A Teacher's Secret
by ultamitblueyes
Summary: Naruto is just your regular teen trying to get through the savanah called highschool. But everything is fine. That is until a substitute came over and turned his world upside down. NejiNaru SasuNaru
1. Chapter 1

Dani: ….er…-shifty eyes- yeaaaaaah….I kinda badly fell for the Sasuke/Naruto pairing. And I'm reading others stories that I really liked and read over and over again. But this one idea that was inspired by what others have done stayed in my mind for so long… And I found it very cute and funny! Any who –cough- Just read and please leave a review for me to squeal over :D

**WARNINGS**: Yaoi! No Like? No read! AU, bad language, Sakura bashing (So sorry Sakura lovers -cries-), kinda OOC, and lotsa fluff!

**Disclaimer**: -sniffles- if only Naruto was mine… Oh the things I would do! –cough cough- in other words he does not belong to this poor penniless writer.

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At Konoha High, students are trained to survive the cold cruel world. Math helps them with bills and taxes and such, History teaches them not to repeat something, English teaches them the language that is spoke nearly all over the world, and P.E teaches them to stay fit and healthy.

The halls are filled with students of different sizes, different families, different personalities and different ranks: The cheerleaders and jocks at the top, with their cool attitude and somewhat smart brain (if you call keeping a C- average smart…). They mocked everyone because they were the best at something that brought so much school spirit and big shiny trophies that were all flashy in the trophy case near the principle's office. Sakura Haruno, a sophomore, was one of the cheerleaders with the biggest head and the one who knew everything before others did. She was quite cruel to people who were lower rank than her or got in her way of getting something. Her 'best friend' Ino Yamanaka, also a sophomore, was the co-captain of the cheerleaders. They fooled everyone with the whole act of being best friends. In truth, they were the worst of enemies.

Next were the cool rich people, who were fighting for second with the bullies of the school. Many wonder why the rich ones were not first in the ranks. They had everything before others and got what they wanted from connections. Neji Hyuuga, a senior, was one of the richest of the school with his cousin, Hinata Hyuuga, the cutest junior in the school. Though she was very shy, she was cool in others' books. Neji was extremely smart and talented and cold if you get on his bad side. He was pretty cool, even if he wasn't on a team or gave things away like his cousin. He should have been on a team, but he was class president, saying it would cut into his important schedules. Neji was the best player in the school (check him out at P.E if you must), just never joined a team.

The bullies were quite mean and scary and everyone who wasn't cool or a jock or cheerleader feared them. This is why they had such a high rank. Kiba Inuzuka, a junior with a huge crush on little Hinata, was the badest of all. He loved torturing others and getting money for just being scary. He was pretty rich, but he just couldn't stop hurting others and laughing at their stupidity and humiliation. Kiba didn't torture only three people, one was a rank and class above him, and two were lower in rank and class. Why? No one knew. All they knew was that he got dirt faster than Sakura but didn't spread it like she did. Life was good to Kiba, except when he was in class and watched by the teachers from the side of their eyes.

And lastly, the geeks/freaks/losers/nerds, all who actually kept the school standing but others didn't know. Gaara Sabaku, a sophmore, was considered a freak for his type of clothings, piercings, and quietness. He actually fitted in all the ranks except the highest. He hated jocks more than Kiba, who did nothing to him except back him up for a few things after he got the worst beating in his life from the freaky red head. He was alsoricher than Neji. His brother Kankuro, a senior with Neji, and Temari, a junior, were the cool rich people who feared only their young brother. Gaara was the coolest! To me at least, he was a freak to others who followed trends while Gaara did what he liked.

Oh! I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself… I'm Naruto Uzumaki! The biggest prankster through the whole school! Gaara's best friend, Kiba's partner in crime, Neji's ex (yeah…freaky I know… I still love that guy too…) and Sakura's tormenter! But she always seems to come back at me with something very humiliating…

I'm not a jock, I'm not rich, I'm not really a bully, and I'm not a freak, geek, nerd, or loser. I'm not very smart, but I am quick in sports! Betcha I can whoop your asses harder than your mother ever did! I'm just me. But if you must, you may call me an outcast, I don't really care.

I'm a sophomore with Gaara, Sakura, and Ino. I would really rather be a senior with Neji. One year left of Konoha High school, fun sucking teachers, nosy gossiping students, and nasty lunch food. Blegh! Oh man, I would give anything to leave this school. But unfortunately, Tsunade, this blonde lady who is older than she looks and lives right next to my room in our apartment building, will beat me to death then bring me back to life to beat me again if I dropped out of school. Heh, she's like my adopted mom, or grandma, she's 56!

Anyway, it's another boring day at school. It's Monday and the sun was blinding me, so my head is being cradled by my arms. No one is here yet, I'd rather be alone to let my thoughts wander. We're expecting a substitute teacher for my homeroom and math class. I hate that. Iruka was the best teacher through this whole entire school! Why did he have to be sick! I groan at the thought of this fat old man with very little hair coming in and teaching in a very uncool drawl. I bet Kakashi, one of the P.E teacher and Iruka's boyfriend, had something to do with Iruka getting sick…Probably gave him a cold from shoving his tongue down his throat.

I lift my head a bit to glance at the clock that was ticking annoyingly. Maybe I could shut it up by throwing a chair… Heh, off to the principle's office for me and a tongue lashing from Tsunade. But, the time is 7:29, and the halls were starting to echo with lockers opening and slamming close. The killer headache was about to attack this poor blue eyed blonde…

I rub my temples. Damn clock. Damn school. Damn Sakura. And Da- ooh, no, thank you who ever is rubbing my temples. I look up and see a mop of blood red hair and sigh happily. My best friend has veeery skillful fingers.

"Mm…thank you Gaara," if I could purr I would.

I know Gaara is not smiling on the outside, but I know he is on the inside. I'm not his best friend if I don't know almost everything about him.

"Hn," was the only answer I got. No surprise there. To me, it's 'your welcome'.

After a minute or two I put my hand on his to tell him to stop, which he does before sitting in the chair next to me and placing his head on my shoulder. A small sigh escapes his lips as I pat his head.

"'Nother argument with your dad?" I asked with a sheepish grin.

Gaara and his dad were never on the right foot. They argued constantly and loudly too… It's hard to get used to the fact that Gaara does yell. I mean come on! The guy only says ten words a day! And the same one doesn't count… which is mostly 'hn'.

Gaara shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. "Kankuro…The bastard won't shut up..." I chuckle lightly and ruffle Gaara's hair, earning a growl.

Time slowly went by for us. I winced every time I heard a locker being slammed shut. The talking from others was growing annoyingly loud. I'm loud myself, just not this early in the morning… It should be a crime from waking a teen up this early! And people wonder why teens don't get enough sleep and end up looking older than their real age.

Our homeroom started to fill with students; none of them paid any attention to Gaara and I. They used to tease us non-stop about our boy-on-boy cuddling, but found that it was normal and soon left us alone.

Gaara came in the second semester of our freshman year. It took us a month to actually stop glaring at each other and help the other survive in this unfair school. Some asked us if we were going out and why was I cheating on Neji. And Neji (this was when I was going out with him) easily heard it from Sakura who was surrounded by her usual group of skinny, heavy perfume wearing girls at the time. He got kinda mad… and was growing really possessive of me and jealous of Gaara. When I told him Gaara and I were so much alike and we liked each other as brothers, he started accepting my red haired friend. But Sakura wouldn't let it go…

She really wanted me to be humiliated and away from the richest boy in school. Why? Everyone knew he was gay; she couldn't stand a chance with him. I sigh at remembering why Neji and I broke up. It really hurt, but it wasn't because of Sakura or social status, it was his uncle, he was only trying to protect me.… Ok it didn't hurt really bad to know that he did it to protect me, but still hurt.

Yeah we still talk and hang out. But I don't get the candy sweet kisses he gave me any more. His hugs pretty much cover up for them but I do miss his kisses.

"Thinkin' about Neji again?" said the no eyebrow freak with heavy eyeliner, who happened to be my best friend.

"How'd you figure?" I wonder aloud.

"You've been sighing for the past five minutes…" Gaara shrugged and buried his face in my neck making me giggle…er… chuckle. Men do not giggle!

"Oh have I?" Gaara loved cuddling to me. It made both of us feel better when he did that kind of stuff.

A few people said 'hi' to me before taking their seat as the bell rang. No teacher yet. I raise an eyebrow. My school is big but not that big… The sub shouldn't be lost… Shrugging, I take out a few pieces of paper, knowing someone is going to start a paper fight. Gaara looked up at me questioningly then was hit in the head by a paper ball that was aimed at me. I laugh my head off at his infamous death glare being sent to a boy who sat across the classroom. He lifts his head off of my shoulder to let me begin my childish antics. With awar cryI start throwing paper balls at everyone who was throwing their own balls at others.

Paper balls are very childish yes, but hey, it reminds us that we are not too old yet. Gaara was leaning back in his seat with his arms crossed over his chest and his legs crossed over our desk. Big mean Gaara is my shield! HAHA! Hey… I'm just kidding Gaara, don't direct that glare at me. Our laughter stops when a whistle pierces our ears painfully.

"GAH!" I put my hands over my ears and drop the book I was just about to hit Shikamaru with.

Shaking the ringing sound out of my ears, I look at the person who dared to ruin our time. My eyes widen at the sight of at a deadly gorgeous guy in front of the door in a business suit and holding a suitcase. His hair was dark as midnight with a few dark blue highlights and was up in a weird but cool messy style. This guy's skin was pale, really pale… Didn't he go outside once in his life! What is he, a vampire? His fingers slowly dropped from his mouth and his eyes open, onyx eyes stared at all of us with irritation. Those eyes…I swear, they're so old with life, they're real deep with emotions and intelligence…Or at least that's what Neji's says sometimes about Gaara's eyes. But this guy, who seemed _WAY_ over dressed, his eyes were much deeper than Gaara's.

"Everyone sit down…" He said in a delicious baritone voice that made a shiver go up and down my spine. He placed his briefcase on the desk and raised an eyebrow at us for not listening.

"Excuse me, who do you think you are? You can't tell us what to do," Shikamaru said in his usual bored tone.

"Why, yes I can… I'm the substitute for Iruka," He opened his briefcase and pulled out papers while nearly everyone's jaws dropped through the floor. Including mine and excluding Gaara's.

Substitute? That guy seemed to be as old as Neji! Impossible! I shake my head, close my mouth,and open it again to shout at him.

"You've got to be kidding me! You look like a senior! How old are you anyway!" I cross my arms and glower at the guy who was playing us.

His head snaps at me. I gulp loudly. His eyes pierce through mine, pinning me down. It's like his searching through me to find out who I am, my blood type, and my penniless life.

"You're Naruto Uzumaki, correct?" He asks in that sexy voice.

I blink before falling on the floor in shock. Did he actually find out about me from my eyes! Oh shit… I better watch myself with this guy…

"Wh-…how…" I stutter out.

"TheHeadmaster told me that you would be the loudest in the class… I could hear your yells down the hall. You're voice is quite annoying dobe…"

"HEY! Who are you calling a dobe! HUH?" I point and glare at the 'substitute' who felt like laughing at me.

"Ah, Iruka kindly filled me in on his students. And by checking your record of grades, I'm actually surprised you have been able to pass elementary school," The others laughed and my cheeks reddened in anger. "You have the worst grades in this homeroom, so the name fits right." He crossed his arm and smirked.

Oh, I'm mad now… I grab a book and throw it at him, hoping his head would crack. He is a liar and cold! People know I used to play baseball, I was the pitcher in middle school, and I still have my fast pitch. Watch! That big leather bound book is going to hit him in the head and his neck is going to crack. Cheers from the boys and cries from the girls.

My eyes widen. He caught it! I growl viciously. The girls in the class giggled and clapped. Sakura giggled the loudest. And the guys gaped. No one was able to hit my fast balls, let alone catch, if someone did catch it they'd drop it the second it hit their hand. His black eyes stared at me with a death glare that matched Gaara's.

"Are you done playing now?"

Gaara grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me in my seat. "Calm down… Do you want Tsunade to argue with you again?"

I pout and vigorously shake my head. I sigh and put my head chin on Gaara's shoulder. Stupid Sub… He was worse than a fat old man with little hair.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha; I'll be filling in for Iruka." Sasuke placed the book I threw at him on the desk and wrote his name on the board.

Gaara chuckled lightly at the fact that I was still pouting like a baby. How dare this guy embarrass me… I will get him back!

This Sasuke was making every girl blush pink and me angrier with every minute. Ok sure he is drop dead sexy but he really irritates me! Even if it's his first day here.

Mr. Uchiha started the attendance, and I was falling asleep, nuzzling my face in Gaara's warm neck.

"Sabaku, Gaara."

I felt Gaara shift to raise his hand and I groaned in annoyance. I want to leave this classroom. NOW! The girls were getting on my nerves and I could feel Sasuke's eyes avert to me first every time he looked up to find the person on the sheet.

"Uzumaki, I think it would be best if kept your relationship with Sabaku out of my classroom…" Sasuke pointed out, making the whole class snicker.

"Hey! He is my friend! Best friend if you please! And how old are you anyway?" I growl.

"Older than you Uzumaki, now I think Gaara would like his personally space."

Gaara put his arm around my shoulder and I chuckle in his shirt as he pulls me closer. "Actually, Mr. Uchiha, I'd rather have Naruto right here." I looked up and saw Gaara smirk evilly at Sasuke.

I smiled big, might as well annoy a homophobe who happened to be my sub for homeroom and math. I wrapped my arms around Gaara's neck and nuzzled his cheek.

"Stop your nonsense or I will split you two up, and I will advise Iruka to keep you two where you are…" Sasuke growled.

I blinked. Then pouted and let go of Gaara who lifted his arm off of my shoulder and crossed them over his chest. His death glare was so heavy that others surrounding us could feel it and they scooted as far away as they could from him.

"Thank you," and then Sasuke looked at the whole class room, explaining what was wrong with Iruka and how long he will be-

A WHOLE DAMN MONTH? DAMMIT! I'm gonna shoot Kakashi! I groan loudly and let my head hit the desk. Just great. A new sub that wouldn't let me hug Gaara, who caught my fast pitch, and who seems to be a homophobe will see me everyday in homeroom, and every other day in geometry. I whimper and feel Gaara pat my head. He only had to deal with this guy once! I hate this….HATE!

But yes the day went by. Also, when homeroom was over I tried to throw another book at Uchiha's head when he wasn't looking. He some how knocked it back at me and hit me square in my stomach making me land on Chouji and knock his chips out of his hands. After a few curses and apologies to Chouji, Sasuke towered over me. I had to gulp down my heart that jumped in my throat from fear and how close he was. I could smell the sweet cologne that he wore, hey, Neji wore that too! I had to use all my will power not to cling to the guy and sniff it all off of him.

He actually threatened me! If I threw something else at him it would be off to the principle's office for me, and you know where that leads to, Tsunade is my guardian so yeah…she hears it before I get home. Sometimes I end up lucky and she's out with her friend Jiraiya, who happened to be another PE teacher. He's cool…just a bigger pervert than Kakashi.

I nodded my head vigorously when Sasuke asked if I understood, yeah yeah I get it teach…

Luckily, I don't have geometry till fifth period. Yes! Away from the freaky vampire teacher who I loathe for embarrassing me. It was lunch and I was sitting at the table Gaara and I shared, which was the farthest away from everyone, and was outside, away from the stinky food and noisy gossiping people. I was eating a thick and greasyslice of pizzawhile Gaara was sleeping. Apparently, his brother was being stupid again and his father called him at P.E, making his ears practically bleed. Poor Gaara. Maybe I should take his grape soda…OW! Bad idea… he's half asleep. And no one touches his soda, not even me.

I pout and continue with my pizza… which has just vanished from my plate. I turn my head to Gaara and glare as deadly as I could at him. How dare he steal and munch on my pizza?

"Kyah! Gaara! That's mine!" I reach for my pizza that he so rudely, but stealthy, stole from me.

Gaara's hand was on my chest, holding me away arms length from him and continued to eat my delicious, mouth-watering pizza. NOO! It's all gone! Damn you Gaara! I whimper, my pizza has been demolished by my best friend. Wah!

"Naruto… do not cry, it's unfitting for you…" Gasp! That voice! I know it anywhere!

"Neji!" I launched myself over the table and clung to Neji's neck who tried to steady his tray of food. "Neji, Neji, Neji, NEJI!" So sue me… I love him and his name.

Neji only chuckled and nodded at Gaara, who nodded back before falling back into a coma. I let go of Neji and he sat across from me, giving me a brand new slice of pizza. I yipped and thanked him a thousand times andate my pizza happily. I glance at his tray of food. Why does he get such good food? I always wondered why! We got all the nasty food and he gets all the good bug free food.

"My uncle wants Hinata and I to have the best of everything… even food," he said as if he read my mind. He started on his chicken salad and my mouth watered at the goodness.

Ohh… Neji is taking me out to dinner with Gaara tonight! Yummy delicious expensive food shall melt away in my small stomach, YAY!

"Hey, Neji, don't you have somewhere important to be?" I know Neji has a lot of meetings at lunchtime with the student council, which is one of the reasons why I was so happy to see him at lunch today.

Neji raised an elegant eyebrow at me and stares at me with his very pale blue violet eyes that I fell in love with in elementary school.

"Would you prefer that I leave you alone?" He asked.

"Ack! No no! I was just wondering why you weren't at your student council meetings." I pulled at my shirt that was riding up from me reaching over to steal some of Neji's food. I know he can't eat all of that!

"Ah, yes well, half of the student council was sick." He replied, and started braiding his hair loosely. "And what is this I hear of you throwing books at your substitute?" Damn you Sakura…damn you and your big mouth!

"Er…Heh," I rub the back of my head and smile sheepishly. "Well, I didn't like him! He humiliated me! And wouldn't let me lean on Gaara! He's a homophobe too!" I'm actually bi…but still.

Neji chuckled and Gaara chose the time to fully wake up. His head was being cradled by his arms and he stared at the both of us.

"What is his name?"

"Sasuke Uchiha… Shouldn't he be with you! He looks too young to be a sub!" I blink at Neji freezing at drinking his water. My brow furrowed in confusion. "Neji?"

"Sasuke…Sasuke Uchiha?" Neji repeated.

"I see you remember him too," Gaara said.

"Yes…I didn't think I would ever see him again…" Neji placed his water bottle down and placed a hooked finger over his lips.

Ok… once again I'm left out of the rich people's loop. I pout and cross my arms. "What's so special about this Uchiha anyway? He's just a sub!"

Both of them sighed making my eye muscle twitch. "Sasuke… do you even remember him Naruto?" Neji asked.

I shook my head. If I did know some one as sexy as Uchiha I wouldn't forget.

"Well anyway, Uchiha is richer than me and Gaara. Ever since his family was murdered by his brother, he worked himself to the point to where he couldn't walk to murder his brother. The court couldn't pin anything on Sasuke's brother... He was as clean as a whistle but some of us knew better. His brother eventually vanished, so Sasuke just worked harder in his studies like his mother wanted and making himself stronger physically like his father wanted. He skipped a few grades and yes he is as old as I am… He used to hang out with you in elementary school, saying he didn't like others teasing a kid who was smaller than everyone else."

I blinked. Ok, either I'm slow or I'm lost... Oh wait, is that the same thing?

"Ok, well how is it that you know him Gaara?" I looked at my red haired friend who was staring off into space.

"Uchiha… He was someone I competed with in our Kendo class. He was real cold to everyone and always did much better than anyone… The bastard really embarrassed me and made my father extremely angry when he wiped the floor with me in a tournament…" Gaara growled out the last part.

I forgot that Neji and Gaara had Kendo classes together when we were younger. Like two years younger…

"Um... I'm still kinda in the dark," I laugh nervously at the disappointed looks they both gave me.

Neji sighed. "It's alright… I wouldn't expect you to remember him from so long ago, nobody has heard of him except our fathers. He took over his father's company since his older brother left. But I wonder…"

"Why is he even here… if he has his own company to run…" Gaara finished for him. "Something's not right Neji…"

"I know…"

My mouth formed a small confused 'o' just as the bell rang. I pouted. Fifth period… with Sasuke… what a joy! Hey… insert the sarcasm in there; I don't wanna be in there with that jerk.

Gaara stretched out his muscles and sighed happily when something was popped back into place. He grosses me out when he does that stuff… Neji got up and excused himself, after dumping away his trash and picking up his pack. Hey! You're not leaving without giving me a hug mister! I latch myself onto his neck and nuzzle his cheek.

"How dare you try to leave without giving me a hug!" Neji chuckled and pulled me off of his back to give me a proper hug. Yay!

"I'm sorry Naruto," He pulled away and smiled at me. "But do be careful around Sasuke, Gaara isn't going to be with you to keep you in place."

"Hey! I do not need a baby sitter!" I glare and pout and cross my arms over my chest. Neji only laughed more.

"Yes you do, and you still look very cute when you do that," I blushed and looked away.

He ruffled my hair and walked off to his classes. Sighing, I turned to get my bag from the empty table, Gaara already left for chemistry. I miss Neji kissing me so bad! A kiss on the forehead would be enough… is that too much to ask? I reach over the table to grab my pack and blink when it is held in front of me.

I follow the pale hand, up the muscled arm to the sleeveless black shirt. My eyes travel upward to the pale face with long black hair as dark as Sasuke's. Hold up… is that Sasuke? No… It's someone else… his eyes are red… and he looks older.

"Here, some punk almost stole it," he drawled. A cold feeling went up and down my spine three times. Shit… What's with all these vampire-like people giving me this feeling?

"Er… thanks," I take the bag from him, my hand brushing against his. Man he's cold…

"You're welcome…You know… you look like an exact smaller replica of Lord Arashi…" He said circling me like a vulture.

Okkk… freaky person that is talking to me is circling me right now… freakier than Gaara. Wait… Arashi?

"Arashi Uzumaki?" The man nodded as he stopped circling. "That's my dad! How do you know him? And what do you mean _Lord_ Arashi? My dad wasn't a lord…" Unless Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Iruka are keeping something from me…

"Oh, yes he was… No one has told you?" I shake my head. If my dad was a lord… shouldn't I be living in a big fancy and expensive castle? Or mansion? "Well now you know… The only difference between you and Arashi…are these…" He traced my whisker-like scars and I couldn't hold back the shiver. His fingers were so damn cold!

"I should let you go, don't want you to be late…" He turned heel and walked off.

"H-hey! What's your name?" I called. Just in case I need to report him for molesting or raping me. What? I thought he was going to kidnap me and rape me in an alley! He seemed like the kind of guy who would do that by the way he was circling and eyeing me!

"…Itachi…" And he continued on.

Aww come on! What about your surname! I need that too. I shrug and make my way through the cafeteria.

Where is every…oh shit… everybody's in class!

I sprint through the cafeteria and the halls. I jumped every three steps when I came to the stairs and I looked at the hallway clock. Less than thirty seconds? Come on feet! Move like the wind! The bell rang just as I was sliding in class. Some big buffoon shouted 'safe!' when I slid in like I used to do in baseball. Panting, I looked up at the sub who was drumming his fingers on the desk and a hand was fisted at his hip. He looked kinda… more irritated.

Chuckling nervously, I got up and dusted my pants and walked to my seat.

"I will not accept tardiness Uzumaki, detention after school with me." He said and picked up the attendance sheet. I froze on the spot.

"DETENTION? But I got in here when the bell rang!" I hollered at him. I am not going to spend after school with this icicle when I should be with Neji.

"I consider those who are not in their seat tardy, regardless of whether or not they are in the class when the bell rings." My mouth fell open. That's not fair!

"Hey-"

"Say another word Uzumaki and I will give you another detention," he said to me sharply, giving me a warning glare.

I huff and scowl before stomping my way to my seat next to Kiba who was snoozing. Well… I'm going to snooze too. Wake me up when the bell rings.

But Mr. Sasuke doesn't want me to snooze, or Kiba. He slammed a ruler on our desk causing both of us to jump.

"What the hell!" Kiba exclaimed.

"I do not want any students in my class sleeping like fools." Sasuke said.

"Technically it's not your class…it's Mr. Umuino's class, you're just a sub," Kiba said, and yawned.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he hit Kiba's head with the ruler and I snickered, earning myself a slap. Kiba and I grumbled.

"I like smart people… but I hate those who think that are smart with their witty comments…" Sasuke walked up to the desk and Kiba gave him the finger.

"Stupid ass…" He murmured. "Hey…" I turn my head to Kiba who nudged me in the ribs. "Wanna pull a prank? I hear he embarrassed you in your homeroom."

I sigh. A prank would be nice… but that would earn me another detention… and I wanna be with Neji! "Not today… he already gave me detention….that bastard."

Kiba shrugged and fell back asleep like Shikamaru did in any other class I had with him.

I cradled my head with my arms and blew my bangs out of my eyes. P.E next… I'll take my anger out with dodge ball. Don't you love dodge ball? It is the best way to get rid of stress.

And it did. I had P.E with Neji and he watched me pounded volleyballs on the other side and knock over many other students in dodge ball. Two things that could help! I love P.E.

"Sasuke giving you trouble?" Neji asked, after he spiked a volley ball and hitting a guy right in the chest and knocking the air out of him.

"Yeah… He gave me detention too!" I growled the best I could and spiked one harder than Neji did and the others ran from it like squealing girly girls. "And I wanted to go on that dinner you planned for the three of us!" Another angry spike.

"Well whose fault is it that you got detention?" Neji had a volley ball in his hand and juggled it from hand to hand.

I blushed lightly and rubbed the back of my neck. "Mine I guess… But he's so irritating! And he is easily irritated."

"Then don't irritate him," my pale eyed friend patted my back and hit the ball over the net.

"It's kinda hard; he gets irritated by almost everything," I sigh for possible the tenth time in the 10 minutes of playing volleyball.

Neji chuckled and I looked at him with confusion. "Same old Sasuke, you'd think that man has changed, but in truth he's still the same…" Neji and I walked to the track and started to walk, Jiraiya was getting mad at us for not giving the other guys a chance to spike.

"Hn." HA! I sound like Gaara! Ok that was something stupid to laugh at… "Hey Neji, you never did give me a direct answer why your uncle wouldn't let us stay together." I wanna know! Neji's dodgy when he doesn't want someone to know something.

Neji stared at his feet as we walked. Was it a wrong time to ask that question? "Neji?" I whisper, grabbing his hand and stopping him from continuing on. His gaze was glued on our linked hands and he rubbed the back of my hand on his cheek. "D-did I say something wrong?"

"No… it's just, I hate the reason why my uncle said I could no longer be with you… And I feel that I can not tell you yet…"

I feel anger and sadness pile up in my gut like it did the day he broke off our relationship. My mouth forms a small 'o' and I feel Neji's cool fingers grasp my chin and lift my gaze up.

"When I am free of my family… I'll come back for you, that is… if no one has taken your heart." Neji left a small kiss on my lips before letting go of my hand and walking across the grass to the boy's locker room.

My fingers graze my lips that Neji had kissed. My stomach was doing flip-flops. Even if it was small… it felt so damn good. It was like… Neji was telling me 'good-bye, until we meet again' and 'I love you'. Neji… My eyes were starting to water up and sting. I sniffle and wipe my eyes clear of tears. I'll wait… I just hope… no one else takes my heart too. I love you too much Neji…

-020-

And now… Detention…joy… After that talk with Neji, all the fun was sucked out of me and sadness filled the empty spot. Man was I moody… My head was being cradled in my arms and my eyes were outside. Neji was there not too long ago with Hinata. She was really nice to me… She always said her cousin and I looked so cute together. Heh, sweet innocent Hinata, I would love to have her for a sister. She didn't treat me like dirt like the other girls did. If I wasn't so in love with her cousin I probably would've fallen for her.

Hinata was like a girly girl and tomboy at the same time; a good combination to make a great personality for a girl. Her blush would always start from that cute button nose she had and spread on her soft looking cheeks. I remember she used to have her hair in a cute bob, but she grew it out and placed it in a long thick braid like Neji sometimes. Hinata was just so freakin' adorable when she blushed and poked her fingers from her shyness.

I sigh. The Hyuuga's just love making me fall in love with them, don't you think? I glance at the clock. Mr. Icicle said I had to stay for an hour with him. Only twenty minutes have passed and was going slower. My gaze averts to Sasuke. He had on a pair of reading glasses and was reading a book… Hey… I know that orange cover…. It's always in Kakashi's hands… My eyes widen. No way! Icicle man reads that stuff! I'm shocked… pure shock has overcome me… He reads Jiraiya's books! Oh man this is hilarious (disturbing too but…)! So hilarious I didn't notice that I was snickering aloud.

Sasuke's eyes lifted from the book and onto me. "Something amusing Uzumaki?"

"Yes!" I laugh out and lay my head on the desk laughing harder. "You actually read those books! HAHAHA!"

Apparently Sasuke was getting angry, I could feel his heated gaze on me and it got hotter as I laughed more.

"Quiet dobe," He said and went back to reading, his face being supported by his knuckles.

….Ok that really shut me up. I assumed that steam was coming out of my ears cause they felt really hot. "I am not a dobe!" I jump up and point. "Just cause I have the worst grades in my homeroom doesn't not mean I have the worst grades in the whole sophomore class!"

"Actually, you do…" Sasuke flipped open a portfolio as my jaw fell open.

"W-what? Are you serious?" I walk up to his desk with a worried expression plastered on my face… Am I really dead last?

Sasuke nods and opens a folder with the entire sophomore class. I nibble on my bottom lip as I spot my name. At the bottom… The list was in order by grades and test scores. It's not fair….I really worked harder since I got to know Neji better…

"Well, sadly, you need to work harder." Sasuke looked up at me and closed the folder with a sharp snap. Shit… that came out… "And how do you know Neji?"

"He was my ex, but he's still my friend," I smile brightly then frown at the green in the room.

"Ah… Did he drop you because of your grades and bad attitude?" Sasuke smirked.

I growl and slam my hands on the desk. "NO! He was trying to protect me! And still is! I know Neji loves me and that won't ever change!"

There was silence between us and Sasuke's eyes grew cold… Really cold. So cold that I was getting goose bumps all over… even on my tushy.

"Love is a useless emotion… it makes those weak when it comes to their loved ones being in danger…" Sasuke stood and walked around the desk in front of me. I gulped loudly.

"Have you ever lost someone you love deeply? Did they turn against you and take advantage of you?" Sasuke cornered me in to the wall his hands fisted on each side of my head. "Love is only a way to kill someone….get rid of someone!" Sasuke was starting to growl and scare me. "Love hurts and kills; might as well get rid of it before you yourself get hurt…" Sasuke moved away from me and I stared at him with fear filled eyes.

What the fuck just happened? I eyed Sasuke as he walked back to his desk and placed his glasses on the book, rubbing his eyes.

"I'll be right back… don't leave yet, your time isn't up…" And he left, slamming the door shut.

I stayed that way for a while: glued to the wall, eyes staring at the door, legs shaking. Ok… come on Naruto… Shake it off… I shook my head and took a seat in Iruka's comfy leather chair. I kicked my shoes off and place my toe ripped socked feet on the desk. Sasuke seemed to be traumatized… he shouldn't be back in a while…

And that book… That damned orange perverted book… It was so tempting to pick it up and see what was so special about it… Ah what the hell… a peek won't hurt…

I looked at the door, then picked up the book turning to the page Sasuke was on.

'…_She mewled as his hands danced over her body, she was on fire. He kissed her bare chest, her soft stomach, and slightly above her triangular patch of hair. She moaned and lifted her hips; she wanted something of him inside her lithe body. Mizumi let out a gasp as her shadowed lover took one of her soft globes in his mouth and suckling like a newborn child…_'

Oh god… as I continued to read my face got hotter with each sexual contact Mizumi had with her lover. I wince as my pants got tighter. Damn… I fidget and get in a comfortable position and continue to read.

I could feel my face get redder and redder. Damn you Jiraiya! I quickly place the book down and put a hand over my beating heart. God… I shall never touch another one of those books again… It was so… erotic… and gave me the feeling I always got when Neji and I would make out. A feeling I wasn't too fond of.

"Intrigued by it?" A husky voice whispered in my ear.

I yip and jump slightly, turning my head to face Sasuke, who had a smirk on his porcelain face.

"Er… I…um… I was-" I was stuttering! I do not stutter!

Sasuke chuckled and grabbed my chin, turning my face to his. "Don't you love the feeling Jiraiya's books give you?" He looked down at my pants and I looked away.

"Ah yes… I can see you enjoyed it, naughty Naruto," He purred.

I looked at the clock and noticed my time was up.

"I-I gotta go! My hour's up!" I pushed him away, grabbed my shoes and flitted to my desk, picking up my pack. I quickly slipped on my shoes and froze when I felt Sasuke's presence behind me.

"Silly gullible Naruto, I'm just playing with you," Sasuke laughed as I blushed more.

"S-so! My time is still up!" And I hurriedly ran out, but not before Sasuke grabbed my wrist and pulled me to his chest.

"Tell… Neji that he has a competition with his old friend," He whispered in my ear.

I stiffly nod just to get away. Thankfully, he lets go and I race home.

I just booked all the way home; ignoring the stares I got from others that I pushed out of the way and saw me as a blur. When I reached my apartment I was covered in sweat, enjoying the calming music the elevator was playing as I leaned against the cool walls. My chest was rising and sinking with each breath I took, my legs shook and screamed at me for going past their limits. Oh hush… I was in a confusing moment. It took me a few seconds to move past the elevator doors when I reached my floor. Once outside the enclosed space I placed my hands on my knees trying to catch my breath and hold myself up. Aw fuck it. I'm dragging myself to my door.

And I did so. Hearing my neighbors yelling from between the thin walls, babies screaming, guys shouting bets for a game, and Tsunade beating the shit out of Jiraiya. Haha, I would go in there to watch instead of listen but I'm too tired.

I rammed my keys into the lock of room 642, my home, and dumped my pack on the faded blue carpeted floor. Grudgingly, I kicked my shoes off and tossed my keys on the table next to the door. My body felt so weak from running. Am I that out of shape? I leaned against the chipped mahogany door and panted.

Damn that Sasuke Uchiha… Scaring the shit out of me by saying stuff one minute, then perverted stuff the next. What the hell… Freakazoid… I gulped quite loudly before pushing myself up and entering my living room, rubbing the back of my sweat soaked hair. Welcome to this pigsty I call home!

Rotten smelly socks were everywhere. Empty cups of noodles covered the kitchen and coffee table, ripped pages that were my homework, candy wraps, crumbs, magazines were littered all over the floor. The white walls were bare, save for a few stains. I have no pictures of family members that I don't know of, or of those friends that I don't have. The only place you'll find the pictures of Gaara and Neji is in a locked box that resides in my bedroom in the top draw of my bedside table. My plants are dying… I need to remember to water those, the carpet needs to be cleaned, the dishes are piling up to towers in the sink, and cupboards are left open and are becoming bare. Hmm… I'll get to that later. I need to sleep.

I peeled off my school jacket and picked up a tank top that I found on a chair. I sniffed it. It should last another week. The white clothing slipped on over my blonde messy head while I unbuttoned my pants. I collapsed on the couch after wiping off the mess. Ugh… I really need this sleep… Just drift off to sleep Naru-

"NARUTO UZUMAKI!"

I winced at the screech that echoed rather painfully in my ear. Oh please no…

"What is this I hear of you getting detention? And throwing a book at the sub! Paper is alright, but a book? What is the matter with you, you damned brat!"

I groaned and slammed a pillow over my head. "Please go away Tsunade… I'm really tired…"

I felt the couch sink a bit at the end. Damn it, leave you old hag…

"And why are you sweating so much? Did you run home or something?" Tsunade's elegant hand weaved through my own blonde locks, untangling a few knots in the process.

"No, ya think?" That came out a little rude… but oh well.

"Be respectful brat. Now who was chasing you? You only run home if some one is going to beat you into a bloody pulp!" I sighed. Muh, might as well tell her…

I turned over and propped myself on my elbows. My brows furrowed at Tsunade's appearance. Her hair was ruffled badly, and a few scratches were laid out on her unwrinkled face. Her knuckles were white and a few drops of blood were on them. Probably caused by Jiraiya. Her shirt was ripped a bit at the top, showing more cleavage and the top of her breasts than usual. Damn she has big boobs… Too big for my liking… But apart from her look that screamed 'I just got in a fight! Don't get on my bad side!' her eyes held the concern that I could recognize anywhere. I cracked a small smile. Maybe I should be more respectful of Tsunade… I mean, she's been there for me ever since I got kicked out of the orphanage for being too troublesome. Plus she's the only person that really cares, aside from Gaara and Neji.

"What happened to you, old hag?"…I'll start respecting her tomorrow…

Tsunade's brown eyes narrowed, but she shrugged off the name that I created for her long ago. "Jiraiya… Bastard doesn't know when to shut up… Now don't avoid my question again! Who was chasing you?"

"No one…" I mumbled out. Running a shaky hand through my hair I bit my bottom lip. Images of that twisted Sasuke ran through my head.

God that guy is deadly… He's got a voice sexier than Neji's, skin that's as white as a sheet; I swear I thought he was a porcelain doll that was brought to life only to kill… or maybe a vampire or something. His presence was cool and dangerous. And his eyes… oooh man those eyes are so amazing. They're void of emotions... except annoyance, but apart from that… I could just drown in those black depths…And he has that cologne I love so much. I wonder what he looks like under that suit… GAH! Naruto! Bad Naruto! Get that out of your head! You're supposed to hate the guy!

"Naruto… are you… blushing?" I blinked. Oh shit…

"W-what? N-no! You're imagining things Tsunade! I mean come on! Why should I be blushing?" I said all of that quickly and nervously. Oh god… busted.

A knowing smirk found its way on Tsunade's lips. Oh no… please don't torture me!

"Who's the new one? You only used to blush when ever something had to do with Neji. Is it still Neji? Or someone else?"

"Well…"

"Oh trust me, it's someone else!" I whimpered and held my head in my hands. Two old people… Noo! I don't deserve this! I can feel my face growing hotter

Looking up I saw the infamous white haired perverted P.E teacher that wrote those god-awful, but arousing, books that Sasuke and Kakashi read (And other perverted people out there…) leaning against the wall. Jiraiya had a laughing and proud smirk on his face that made you ignore the bruises on his face.

"Shut up Jiraiya!" I hollered.

"Who is it Naruto?" Tsunade prodded to get the name out of me. She will not get it out of me! No way! No how! No fucking way will she get it out!

"The guy he threw the book at," Jiraiya said smugly.

"The sub? Are you kidding me Naruto! How can you be smitten by a sub tha-"

"He's Neji's age… Just smarter and sexier than Hyuuga, right Naruto?"

I wailed loudly. So loud that the old people in the room had to cover their ears. I shoved my head in the pillow to muffle my screams. So sue me if I'm acting like a girl! These actions never leave this apartment anyway.

I could hear Tsunade questioning Jiraiya about Sasuke. But I had yet to hear Jiraiya say it was Sasuke. But either way… it made my ears bleed. I stopped screaming a while ago, only to choke on the words that I wanted to shout at Jiraiya. God damned bastard… Oooh… I so hate you right now.

Slowly, I pulled my head up from the pillow that comforted me. Tsunade still has not gotten a name. But she seemed happy. Happy about what? There is nothing to be happy about! Unless you like to see me being embarrassed.

The doorbell rang and I raced to it. I don't give a damn who it is; I just needed to get out of the living room and away from the bickering couple (I don't really know if they are… they sure do act like one). I yanked the door open and found Gaara, Neji, and Hinata standing there. Gaara looked irritated, Neji looked like he didn't care if he was there, and Hinata looked like she was going to faint from seeing me in my boxers and a dirty tank top. Hmm… am I that sexy?

"Is that him!" I heard Tsunade yell. She shoved me out of the way and sighed in disappointment. But a bright smile followed after. "Hello you three, come to take Naruto away?"

I buried my face in Tsunade's shoulder. It was still red and Neji was there! Oh man, today was just not my day…

"I-I suppose so…" Hinata stuttered, her face turning a bit red. "I-I'm s-sorry Naruto… But I r-really wanted to come and… well…"

After feeling my blood calm down from Hinata's cute voice I looked at the three of them. My goofy smile on my face.

"It's ok Hinata! The more the better! Could you guys excuse me for a minute?"

I rushed to my bedroom and pulled out a thin light blue hoodie that had the sleeves ripped off, don't ask how. I slipped on a clean black tank top and faded jeans with a large red fox etched on the bottom of the left leg. Gah… I stink… Just a real quick shower should do…Sighing, I slipped the tank top and the jeans off, placing them on my unmade bed with my hoodie. After peeling off my boxers and tossing it in the hamper I jumped into a cold shower. Shit! Too cold! Oh well! It's just quickie…

Finally, I was able to come back into the living room, where Neji and Gaara were being interrogated sweetly by Tsunade. Does she really want to know Sasuke that bad? I played with my wet hair a bit and noticed a look that Neji gave me. I shivered a bit and stared back at him questioningly. He only shrugged and stood up. What did I do now?

"Let's go guys…" he exited the room, leaving a trail of ice behind him.

"What did you say Tsunade!" I asked, worried.

"I was just asking about your new crush," She replied, putting a finger on her lip.

"You… You asked… But that was… TSUNADE!" I whined. Oh great, Neji's mad at me now… right after he told me he would come back to me after being free, I go off in detention and fall madly in love with the uber sexy sub… Damn this is not good.

I gulped followed after Gaara and Hinata who left after Neji did. "Don't be late now!" Tsunade hollered. But I didn't hear her… I was too busy thinking about Neji and Sasuke, comparing and contrasting… and feeling extremely guilty.

When we arrived at this big fancy and sparkly restaurant that we went to every now and then, I continued to trail behind and Neji still seemed not too happy. Gaara and Hinata glanced back every now and then at me. What? I won't get lost. I promise. I just… don't want to get to close to Neji while he's like this.

And sitting at the table made everything worse. I was about ten feet away from Neji while walking and riding the limo here. Now I was just a foot a two away from him, and it was rather cold. Hell even Gaara had a little goose bumps on his arm. Hinata was whispering to her cousin. Hopefully she was trying to calm him down. I was sinking in my chair, lower and lower every time Neji glanced at me… His pale lavender eyes had become paler and that was not a good sign. Not good at all.

Neji I'm sorry…

Why the fuckin' hell was that so hard to say?

The table was deadly quiet. And I swear that some people were edging away from Neji. My loudness that many of the workers were used to hearing was not there at all. Making them look at me funny. Like they wanted to ask if I was sick. When the waitress came by to take orders she had to ask me a few times what I wanted 'cause she couldn't hear me. I spoke up more when I noticed Neji was getting more annoyed with my child-ness. But I stayed slumped in my chair. Wishing the big red booth seat would swallow me up and hold me forever in red abyss.

I flinched when Gaara pulled me out of my slump and nodded at Neji, insinuating that I should talk to him. I gulped and looked at Neji. I couldn't talk to him with the way he was now! I mean look at him! His eyes were paler, his arms crossed tightly over his chest, and a deep frown graced his beautiful features. He looked like he wanted to kill. Even little Hinata was quivering more than usual while talking to Neji.

Slowly, I inhaled and closed my eyes.

"N-Neji?"

"What?" Ouch… That felt like a whip brought down on me hard enough to make me unconscious.

"U-um…" I opened my eyes hesitantly. When my eyes met Neji's my blood went cold.

…It was me he wanted to kill… I know it was. He had a glare that surpassed Gaara's and that glare was extremely hard to bring out. "Neji, I'm sorry for what ever Tsunade said. What ever that she said or asked was just something she wanted to know from the lies that Jiraiya filled her head with. I swear that-"

"Oh? Oh Really?" His tone was dripping with venom. "So your crush on _Sasuke_ was just some lie? Is it really Naruto?"

Gaara sighed and leaned back in his seat, his hands buried in his pockets. Hinata was looking away with her own hands folded on her lap. Guys! A little help here!

"It's not a crush! I swear! Hell I hate the guy! He's arrogant, twisted, sick, totally unfair and…" I was trying to think of more negative things to say about Sasuke. But after that last statement positive things came to mind which made me sick in the stomach.

'Sasukeis gorgeous, dangerous, and mysterious. Something about him makes me want to get down on my knees and ask what it is he wishes for like a slave or something…' I almost gaped at my own thoughts. Why would I-

"Oh Naruto, I didn't know you think of me like that." a sarcastic voice purred from behind me.

My eyes widened to dishes. Oh god. Please no. Not that bastard. A large hand clapped against my shoulder. I gulped loudly. My heart was beating a mile a minute. Oh…shit….

I slowly looked over my shoulder and saw Sasuke, out of the business suit and into something black, leather and…rather sexy really. His hair was messier than before and dark punkish accessories graced his being. Earrings adorned his ears, necklaces with skulls and dragons hung from his neck; he even had a spiked choker around snug against his neck. His black shirt was sleeveless and my eyes were laid upon a tattoo of a green snake circling around a red and white fan. Damn. So he was a business man in the day a punk rocker/gothic at night. You know that kinda makes sense…

Sasuke stared deep in my blue eyes. Searching through them like he did this morning. He playfully licked his lips at meand I looked down at my shaking and sweating hands in my lap. Hopefully no one noticed my blush.

"Gaara, Neji… Nice to see you both again." I could feel a smug smirk playing against Sasuke's lips.

Both Gaara and Neji glared daggers at Sasuke. Hinata was blushing and looking away. Damnit Sasuke, do you have to have this effect on everybody?

"Mind if I sit here?"

"Actually, we do," Neji snarled. Ok… so maybe it isn't me he wants to kill.

"Too bad." Sasuke too a seat next to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. My blush grew. Oh no. Ok, Naruto react of something!

"Get your arm off of me bastard." I hissed at him through my teeth.

Sasuke just tsked me and pulled me close, burying his face in my hair. NO! NEJI! GAARA! SAVE ME! Both of them looked like they were going to grab the sharpest object around them and stab Sasuke to death with it.

"Let go of him, Uchiha," Neji warned.

"I don't feel like it, and it's not like he's taken, right Neji?"

Neji seemed to choke back on his next sentence. I growled and clenched my fist tight. How dare he say that! I should just punch him in the gut and run him over with a Mac truck. Oh… Neji looks so lost…

"Sasuke, let go of Naruto. Now." Gaara growled.

"Oh hush Sabaku, besides, I can hug him all I want after all that fun we had in detention, isn't that right Naruto?" I choked on my own tongue. What the hell? We didn't do anything!

"N-Naruto!" Hinata gasped, staring at me with shocked eyes.

"What? No! Guys! He's lying I swear!" I almost hollered.

"You were quite reluctant at first but after a while you couldn't help but participate." Sasuke purred seductively.

The table was growing colder and my two best friends were staring at me with eyes that asked 'is this true?'

"Damnit Sasuke! Why the hell would you tell them that big shitty lie? I would never do anything with you! Never in a million years!" I swear I going to kill him!

Sasuke chuckled. "I was a bit upset that you called out Neji's name but after a while that will change to mine: Sasuke…" he whispered in my ear, but loud enough for those surrounding us to hear.

Then I don't know what else happened…

It was like I blacked out. I only heard things… yells, screams, things crashing, falling down to the floor, flesh hitting flesh, grunts of pain, and a few calls of my name. That's all I could hear. I don't know what happened. When I felt two pairs of hands grab me and try to pull me back I was sort of coming to. I could smell blood, feel it running down the side of my head, down from my lips that most likely had a cut. I felt like an animal that was angered beyond a limit. My knuckles hurt and my face ached. Did that bastard punch me? How many times? I was snarling and growling out threats as I was dragged away from Sasuke.

When my vision cleared I saw him. His shirt torn, bruises starting to form on his face, scratches here and there-some were deep others were shallow; blood dotted his lips and his shirt. The restaurant was a mess. Tables were turned over, glass was shattered, unfinished foods were scattered and people were surrounding Sasuke as Neji and Gaara dragged me out.

You fucking asshole! I'm going to seriously murder you! I pulled and pulled to free myself from my friends and continue to attack that damned Uchiha. Heh, I must seem like an animal, the way I was reaching out for Sasuke's throat, growling, and my teeth bared. I stopped struggling to reach Sasuke as Hinata latched herself onto me, trying to push me back.

….I could never hurt her. And by the way I was fighting back… The two people I care about the most must've been sporting some scratches and oncoming bruises. I let them drag me while I glared at Sasuke.

He just smiled at me, and licked his lips. He mouthed something that I wished I didn't see.

'_I'm coming to get you…Naruto…_'

* * *

W00t! New story! Yay don't know if I wanna continue this though –sweatdrop- It took me a while to just write this one chapter . and I seriously need a beta reader –cries- I can't do this by myself…

But yeah tell me what you think. I wanna hear everything. Constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated. Just no flames though please Thank you very much.


	2. Chapter 2

…Wow… I really wasn't expecting much feedback for this story O.o… Thank you so much:D

Well, I was going to bring it down because I thought it wasn't going to get much attention… But I suppose I could keep it up for its fans!

**WARNINGS**: Read first chapter for warnings.

**Disclaimer**: Not mine. Just writing a fan fiction! Don't sue me…

* * *

Oh man… 

Oh freakin' man…

It was a terrible idea to fight Sasuke… I thought he was torn up until I saw myself in the mirror and realized that I could not move my left arm. I had a swollen black eye, several bruises adorned my face, one of my old whisker-like scars had a new scratch directly over it, and there was a small cut on the side of my head and on my bottom lip. Ouch... my knuckles were split open, and I believe the wounds made Hinata a little woozy, but that didn't stop her from bandaging them up. My gut was in pain and my left arm was dislocated.

Damn… Next time I gotta make sure I don't black out like that… I warned myself that last time! When I got in a heated argument with this guy after a rough baseball game I had told myself several times, don't lose it! After the fight, I regained consciousness, wondering why the hell my hands were bruised and my clothes had blood on them. Heh… I sent that guy to the hospital for weeks and I was suspended from baseball until the next year. Don't ask why I black out like that… I just do.

I watched everyone walk around in my living room. Gaara was cooking, Neji was cleaning, and Tsunade and Hinata were bandaging me up. I almost laughed when I saw that Gaara was beginning to cook something in my kitchenette. But my jaw was in too much pain for me to laugh.

Hinata's clothes were a little dirty—probably because of the stuff I knocked down, one of Gaara's sleeves was ripped and hanged loosely around his arm, there were a few scratches on his arms and under his chin, and Neji… Neji's hair was mussed up, his shirt was no longer clean (my blood, dirt, and some kind of drink was splashed over it.), and there was a bruise on his cheek. My fault I think…

My eyes were glued on Neji as he tossed my dirty clothes in a black bag for the wash, placed the dishes in the sink, and straightened a few things. I'm guessing he could feel my gaze on his back 'cause he looked over his shoulder with a confused look on his face. But every time he looked, I looked away and listened to Tsunade mumbling about how much of a knucklehead I was.

…

Heeey…. I'm not a knucklehead!

I pout and sniff the air. Mm… I knew Gaara could cook, but like him yelling, I wasn't used to the idea.

"N-Naruto? I-Is it too tight?" Hinata asked, rubbing my hand.

I crack a small smile at her. "No… it's fine." Ow… damn my jaw hurts… I touched the bandage on my knuckle with my bandaged fingers. Nope. Not too tight. I patted Hinata's head and watched her blush grow. Heh, cute!

Ahem.

I leaned back on my dirty couch and rested my head on Tsunade's shoulder. She had finished patching up the cut on my cheek and was now drinking a glass on wine. It was deadly quiet and the atmosphere was tense! I wince slightly. I don't like it one bit…

"I'm sorry guys!" …Way to break the ice…

Everyone turned their heads to me and I fidgeted. I'm not the one who apologizes normally. I just don't like it for some reason. I inhaled. But this is my house! If any word of me apologizing comes out, which is less likely, I'll…

I'll just deny it. Simple as that!

"I didn't mean for you guys to go through all this trouble. Guess I shouldn't have lost it!" I rubbed the back of my head and flinched at the glares I got from Gaara and Neji. "Heh... Heh… But it's better than you two! You two would've actually beaten him half to death…"

Gaara and Neji quickly looked away from me and continued what they were doing. Ha! One point for Naruto! Ow… I gotta stop moving my mouth. Fuck. Sasuke sure does pack a punch.

"At least we wouldn't move around like some wild animal…" Gaara murmured. Neji snickered.

Oh great… My two best friends feel like ganging up on me… I pout just a bit.

"And you're right. But it would take both Gaara and I to beat Sasuke 'half to death' as you say," Neji said and dropped the bag full of my nasty, dirty, and stinky clothes in front of my door to take downstairs to the laundry mat. I've been meaning to get those clean! Really…. Three weeks ago…

"Wait a minute… It would take both you and Gaara? You serious?" That's a shocker right there… Well, then again it shouldn't be after they told me how Sasuke was top of their class and beat them both.

Both of them nodded but still went on. You'd think they'd flinch and take care of thing in a rougher way, what with their prides and all. I sighed and buried my face in Tsunade's shoulder. She didn't look too happy.

Oh, she was happy when Hinata said that sub's name. But when Tsunade saw me and heard what happened, she was already out the building's door screaming about how she was going to kill some Uchiha tonight. If it weren't for Neji and Gaara she probably would've been at his house already. The old hag had a way of finding people… I had to smile though. Nice to know that she would spit on anyone who'd hurt me. She'd also get a disgusted look on her face if she heard their name. Hahaha! Tsunade's funny.

"I should probably keep you from school for the next few days…" Tsunade whispered.

Oh oh!! Please do so!! I gave Tsunade the doughy puppy eyes and pulled at her sleeve. I don't feel like going to school! Especially since it's the beginning of the week! Please oh please Tsunade!!!

Tsunade glared at me. And rubbed her temples. "It's best you do! You told me to never hit a girl! And that's going to be hard with three fourths of the female population in school hitting me after they see Sasuke with bruises on his face."

I heard Hinata giggle and Gaara snort. And I swear I heard him say 'wimp'… Mm… Mean Gaara.

Tsunade sighed. "I'll think about it brat, just be careful next time. I'm not going to be here forever to watch your ass." She kissed my forehead and stood to walk to her room.

"Yeah you only got what… ten more years before you won't be able to walk without a cane?" I snickered and hid behind Hinata, away from the death glare Tsunade sent at me before slamming the door behind her.

"Um… N-Naruto… M-maybe you sh-should be nicer to Tsunade…" Hinata whispered.

I blinked and shrugged. Hinata was right. And I told her that before grabbing a pillow and burying my face in it. I need sleep… I gravely need it. Today was just not a good day for me… Seriously.

I just listened to my surroundings, hoping they would put me to sleep. Hinata was singing softly near me while putting something away. I could hear Neji's feet shuffling around and Gaara was still in the kitchen. Hey… Hinata's singing is really nice… I smile in my pillow and yawn silently. Sleepy sleepy sleepy…

One eye opened just a bit when I felt a hand weave through my hair. Who dare to stop me from sleeping?! Oh… Neji. He was crouched in front of me and petting me. Well more help for me to sleep. My eye closes and I yawn silently again. I felt lips peck the side of my head and give my head one last soft pat.

"You're a bag of trouble Naruto," Neji whispered and went back to what he was doing.

Yes I am! And proud of it too! I smile once more in my pillow and let sleep claim me.

-020-

Maaaahhh!!! Good morning all! Good morning bright yellow sun, good morning beautiful blue sky, and good morning clean, for now anyway, home!

I wrinkle my nose and stretch my upper body. Ouch… Hmm, shouldn't have stretched my left arm… oh well. I scratch the back of my head then put my left arm back in its sling. I stare out my window and tilt my head to the side. I still don't get why a lot of people say I'm like the sun and the sky. I really don't. I stare at it a bit more and smile. Well it's a brand new day. Better spend it wisely.

I laugh slightly. I remember one time waking up and staring out the window at the sky. Tsunade and Jiraiya walked in and I didn't even notice them. Hell they were biting each other's heads off and I still didn't notice them! I just kept staring at the outdoors. But when I heard them laughing I had to turn and look. I asked them what was so funny and they said I just looked exactly like my father. They said almost every morning he'd stare out the window and forget about everything else. I smiled. I wonder how different life would be if dad was around when I was born. Or mom! Either one… Or both really…

Ok, now's not the time to be tearing up! Come on Naruto, pull yourself together! Now… what to do today…

…

Wait… Isn't today…Tuesday? I curse under my breath and look at my clock. God damn! It's seven thirty?! I thrust the blankets off of me (One of them must've put it on me…) and scurry to my room.

Only to trip over something heavy and land on something else. I yelped. Now is not a good time to fall! Neji must've forgotten to pick something up… or Gaara felt like leaving something for me to trip over. Damnit what ever! I just have to get to school! I don't want to be scolded again by Tsunade for missing a day just because I overslept. I try to get up but feet a hand grab my wrist and another grab my ankle. What the…

I look down and saw Neji sitting in my armchair with a blue blanket draped over himself. He was yawning and rubbing his eye with his free hand. Looking farther down, my eyes laid upon a hand paler than Neji's. AHH!!! A zombie! Oh wait… it's Gaara. Heh… I'm overreacting right now…

Gaara was rubbing his head and glaring up at me. Oops… was that you that I trip over? Shouldn't have slept down there panda boy. And shit! You looked weird without all that eye liner! God!! Put it back on please!

"What are you guys doing!? We gotta get ready for school! Wait… You guys should already be at school! No… you guys shouldn't even be here! Why are you here?!"

"Naruto shut up…" They both muttered in unison and buried themselves back under the blanket.

"Uh…guys? School…" I pointed at the door.

"We're not going today…" Gaara's muffled voice sounded through the thick blanket he was currently under.

"We aren't?"

Both of them pointed at a piece of paper on the table and instantly went dead. Oh… didn't see that. Stepping over a snoring Gaara, I snatched up the paper and read:

'_Hey brat!_

_I've decided to let you stay home. I'll inform the school in the morning. And I swear you sleep like a rock. Just dead to the world! Anyway, Neji and Gaara are staying over. We sent Hinata home. I didn't find it proper for her to sleep in the same room with a slob like you. Be sure to change the bandages over your hands. Your knuckles don't look like they are going to heal anytime soon. And even if you forget one of your friends will know. I'm not sure if I should let you skip for a long while… depends if you're still in pain. And I mean real pain. If you're faking it you'll be in even more pain understand? I'll send those girls from your school after you! _

_Later,_

_Tsunade_'

Heh… I placed the letter down and looked at my two companions snoozing the day away. I swear… they seem like morning people to me! What the hell's up with this? They're practically dead! Like I was last night… I smiled though and looked around my home.

They all sure did a good job of making it sparkling clean! No stains, dishes were put away neatly, and books were on their respective shelves along with my DVDs. There was no longer a layer of dust, my plants looked healthier and a sweet smell filled the room. Hmm… Lavender. I gotta thank everybody! But how?

As I pondered, I opened the closed curtains and windows. Hey, it really was nice today. The sun was bright and the breeze was nice and cool. I heard one of my dead friends groan and shuffle. Most likely Gaara. He didn't like brightness all too much.

I pull at my hair gently and rub my stomach, feeling and hearing it growl rather loudly. Shouldn't have fallen asleep on Gaara's dinner, and it probably would've been good too… Passing a snoozing Neji, I entered the kitchen and opened the fridge. Oh, lookie here, another note.

I pluck the note off of a wrapped up plate. I recognize Neji's elegant handwriting:

'_You wouldn't wake. This is yours. Heat it up for two minutes or so. Enjoy._'

I looked over my shoulder and smiled. Man I love those two. After popping the plate in the microwave I was rummaging through my drawers. My clothes smell clean! The smile on my lips turned into a frown as I picked at the clothes I currently had on. Ew… they were sticky and smelled of blood. I shrugged out of the outfit and tossed it in the hamper. That hoodie was my favorite… I slipped on a pair of black drawstring pants and an orange tank top. You know I had to dye this tank top? They have a tank top in every color except orange.

Shoot, they even cleaned my room… The blankets were washed and spread neatly over my mattress, magazines were stacked up next to my bedside table, and my broken alarm clock was replaced by a new one. Actually, I think I've seen that one before… Oh, Tsunade's room, that old one that she changed for a sparkling pink girly one. My carpet floor was clean of potato chips, cups, plates, and my dirty boxers. Well… now I really owe them. I'm amazed they cleaned pretty much my whole apartment!

Ugh my hair feels greasy… does it look greasy? I shrug and stick my head under the sink and pat it a little to get rid of the excess water. A laugh escaped my throat as I shook my head around like a dog. Although it didn't stick up everywhere like it usually does, it was still a bit crazy.

"Damnit Naruto, did you have to do that? I finished cleaning this bathroom hours ago…" A mumble came from behind me.

I smile my famous foxy grin at my red haired friend, but it faltered a bit. He was staring at me with narrowed eyes. Man…

"Gaara? Please put your eyeliner back on," I chuckled sheepishly. "You look… weirder without it…"

Gaara snorted and pushed me out the way and slammed the door in my face.

"Aw! Gaara! You're so mean… A pure pain in the ass too!" I laugh as he kicked the door and made it shake.

"_You're_ the pain in the ass, Blondie," He said from behind the door.

"Yeah, yeah! You keep thinking that! And don't break my door!" Another kick, harder than the last, was his reply. I laughed out loud and walked away to the kitchen.

Oh, my food! Hastily, I took out my dinner breakfast (yup that's its new name!!) and gobbled it down. Yum! Gaara's cooking is the best. I just wish I could have seconds 'cause I finished the plate in a minute. Good delicious homemade Gaara food. I sighed happily and looked at the armchair that Neji was still asleep in.

Half of the blanket was pooled in his lap and his hair was a bit ruffled. He had a peaceful look on his face and his nose wrinkled every now and then. With a groan, he buried his face in the pillow supporting his head. Where's a camera when you need one?

My smile slowly faded. Damn you Sasuke… Saying those things last night… looking so god damned sexy… indirectly hurting Neji… I sigh. I'm being torn in half… A part of me wants Sasuke, another part wants Neji. I can't have both! Well, I could… but that wouldn't be fair to them! Plus Sasuke is just doing this to mess with Neji! And embarrass me!

A pair of arms folded over my head and a face nuzzled my hair. I laugh. "Gaara! Get off!"

"…Do you have any idea how loud you are? Now to mention your feet are like stones…"

I pout and struggle to get Gaara off. Ohhh… I can feel him smirking! Damnit Gaara get off! My struggling was growing. I even stood up to get him off. God freakin' damnit! I'm too short!! I HATE being short!! Gaara's taller then me! Making me seem more girly!

…

I am not girly. I was just saying… 'Cause I mean I have big eyes, baby soft skin, a somewhat girly figure and shit… my hands are pretty girly too… ok I'm a shut up. Don't believe a word that people say about me! I am not girly! I do not look or act girly! My dad was a macho man and so am I!

…

Ok dad wasn't a macho man… and I'm definitely not… But I'm not girly! So don't believe a THING people say about me being girly…

"Gaara get off!"

"Gaara… off," was Neji's order.

A chill went up my spine and it seemed it went up Gaara's too. He removed his arms from my head and placed his chin on my shoulder. Well… Now I know why Hinata keeps insisting that I let Neji sleep when ever I call and he's taking a cat nap.

Neji's head lolled to us slowly and he glared daggers at us. I laugh sheepishly. That look is pretty scary…

"Maahhh!! Go back to sleep Neji," I said after gulping down my jumpy heart.

He snorted and started to stretch. "I have to agree with Gaara, Naruto… You are too loud…"

I smile then look at the letter on the table from Tsunade. "Hey, guys? Why did you stay?"

Neji froze and Gaara shivered, pulling himself off of me. "That woman can be very persuasive…" Gaara winced and scratched the back of his head. I could only snicker.

"Oh really? What did she do? Huh? HUH?" I poke Gaara's arm before he shoves me into the table.

"None of your damn business…" They both growled out, looking away from me.

I whine like a little puppy. But I wanna know!! Tell me guys! Please?! How can you not tell anything to this adorable face?

"Naruto… stop…"

Hastily, I suck my lip back in and straight myself up. "Sir, yes sir…" I glowered at Gaara was smirking and took a seat on my couch.

You know… I shouldn't even let him sit on my couch for getting me in trouble with Neji. Damn you Gaara! And I thought you were my best friend! I growl and slump back in my wobbly wooden chair, glaring as hard as I could at Gaara. And you wanna know something? That's not much since Gaara's the best friend I've had in the longest time.

Please don't shoot me if I sound like some sappy romantic vow or something but… Those two… Neji and Gaara… Heh, their pieces of me that I've been searching for my short 16 years of life. Without them… life would still be meaningless. I would ask anyone to kill me if they both left me. Hell I'd burn and then drown myself after a cruise (and after I finish the buffet).

A small smile graced my lips as I watched them.

I knew Neji since we were was in grade school… Not too well until middle school though mind you. He was… pretty distant back then, really distant. He was always quiet and, like Gaara, didn't say too much. Hey, he was still handsome then too, his desk was always littered with Valentines, Christmas, and birthday presents, and lots of girls ran around with their disposable cameras asking to take pictures of him. Though he was two grades higher than me, I always saw him around with a trail of whispering and squealing chibi girls. He'd walk around the playground with a book in his hand, and not one of those colorful children's books either!

I always thought he was weird. He wasn't like normal boys that was for sure. He didn't play games with us, and I offered all the time, especially since I was mostly pushed around for my size, I wanted to see if he would be different. Neji looked at me funny the first time and said he had no time to play games. I swear… he was a grown man trapped in a little boy's body! Kids had all the time in the world! How could you not have time to play? I mean I could understand that when you're older but man when you're nine or ten?

In middle school… Neji grew even more distant to others… When I saw him in my first year in middle school, I jumped up and down and asked him if he remembered me like some crazed fangirl. Ugh, I gave my self a heart attack that day. Neji said 'who could forget a kid like you? You were short and loud.' Hehe… that made me mad. For a short while, ha!

I really don't know when we started becoming friends. Cause I just remember hanging around him a lot. Probably wormed my way into that head of his with all my words of encouragement!

Man if Tsunade heard me say that she would probably die of laughter… Maybe I should try that… It would get her away from Jiraiya that's for sure!!

Oh wait!! I know when Neji stopped being so cold! A bunch of high schoolers came over and started beating up some kids. They came after me… saying I was too annoying. I didn't even do anything except try to help the kids they were beating up! Is that so wrong? I'm guessing I was going to black out that day too… but I don't know, hell I'm not sure, cause when I started to, something happened. I ended up watched Neji beat the crap out of all of them. This was when he was in high school and I was a lowly middle schooler. Laugh please… I need some people to laugh at my life story!! I thanked Neji and smiled my genuine smile. And I swear I think he blushed! I know he did! I started asking people for a camera and his blush instantly disappeared.

Yup! First day of being great friends for me and Neji! Woot!!

I let out a small laugh and look at Gaara who looked like he was going to collapse and fall back asleep any minute…

Gaara… only known him for over a year and he's already my best friend, someone I consider a brother.

Like I said not too long ago, Gaara and I didn't get off on the right foot at first. He took my seat in art class!! My favorite seat!! It was not fair! I wanted to be friends with him when I saw him in homeroom 'cause he looked cool... But after art class I wanted to MURDER him. Art class was supposed to be my thing and he comes along and steals my fame!!! GAHHH!!! Cough… sorry… getting a little too emotional, ne? Anyway… I 'accidentally' tripped and spilled paint over Gaara's shirt and shoes—which I found out later was his favorite… Heh... Afterwards, Gaara and I were doing everything we could to embarrass each other, and he was winning… by a mile… he was better than Sakura…

We occasionally threw fists at each other and roughly shoved the other with our shoulder when the other passed by. And his glares at me were rather cold whenever I won a battle. It always made me gulp and know that Gaara would come back twice as strong.

We actually had a few fights in the park, in alleyways, and right there on the street. Pure bloody fights too. I always came home with a dislocated jaw, a black eye, and sore muscles. But I could never tell Tsunade who it was that bruised me up. Why? I don't know. I just couldn't.

One day he made me so mad over something, I forget what, and my mind screamed 'KILL! KILL THE RED HAIRED PANDA!!!' In homeroom, after Neji dropped me off after our intensive 'Good-morning' make-out session…. Wait… Ignore that!! IGNORE! That did not happen! … Ok maybe it did but… just ignore! When I came in homeroom I noticed that Gaara was in there with his brother and sister, who by the way were snapping at each other about Gaara and their father. Gaara was silent through the whole thing, his head being cradled by his covered arms and his pretty aqua eyes were staring off into the space of the black board. He looked… sad… hurt… torn apart that day. But you could only see it from his eyes.

When he saw me he quickly looked away. His older brother must've noticed 'cause he looked over his shoulder and snarled at me with pretty mean words. Mean I say! Temari and Gaara had to calm him down with a few words and then they went back to talking, but in hushed voices. I was still able to hear them even as I sat in the far end of the room. Gaara's father came home drunk the night before and Gaara's siblings told him to stay in his room that night. But Gaara didn't seem to listen and walked around.

I felt guilty when I heard that his father beat him. Gaara might've stood a better chance if I hadn't picked that fight the day before. When his siblings left I sat next to him and tried to say sorry. But the only thing I could say was 'You okay?' Gaara, like Neji, stared at me funny then went back to what he was doing: staring off.

News spread around fast, news that was merged with horrible rumors and everyone started whispering stuff about Gaara that made me furious! Especially Sakura. I wanted to rip her head off and roll it down the hall! And I still do… But she's so fun to torment so forget that plan.

People that tried to be friends with Gaara edged away from him and soon joined what everyone else was saying. I didn't like it one bit, and I didn't plan to leave Gaara's side.

A few weeks afterwards, when everything died down Gaara questioned my reason for staying and not joining everyone else. I just smiled and patted his back. He didn't deserve getting beaten up by his dad and he didn't deserve losing his chances of making friends. But I didn't tell him that, I just smiled.

Mah! As you can well see… my smile earns my friends. Or is it my brains? Or maybe my charm? Hmm? What do you think? I think it's my sexy charm! HAHA!!

But yeah, they're both pieces of me that I've been looking for quite a while.

Standing up and wave my good arm around, jumping up and down. "Oh OH!! What should we do today? It's a free day! No crazy girls chasing you two, no teachers, no work, just a free breezy world outside that door! What should we do?!"

Neji and Gaara stared at me with identical looks and I laughed. Laughed till my stomach hurt. They didn't seem to get anything and shrugged. Neji went back to trying to warm up (it's pretty cold in here…) and Gaara went back to randomly flipping pages in my book. I just smiled.

"I still have some of your clothes you guys left over here last time you came. Can we all go out? A make-up for yesterday's dinner!"

-020-

Whoo hoo!! Today is a great day! It's not too hot, the crowds aren't as big as the weekends, the breeze is cool and lapping against my skin, and Neji and Gaara seem to be enjoying themselves.

Ok I'm not sure if they are… Gaara has a slight frown on his face (he's not very fond of crowds or the bright sun), and Neji is as stoic as ever. But I just have this feeling that they're acting. Why do you ask? 'Cause every time I look over my shoulder and point at something I like with a gleaming smile, they have their own smile gracing their face.

I'm greeted by several people I meet at the mall and my job. A wave and a small smile leads to a small chat of 'how are you's and 'see you around'. I attract a really weird but cool crowd: people who are tattooed from head to toe, people dye their hair blue, pink, and neon green, people who have piercing in the strangest places and of course, people who where business suits in the day and sexy black leather stuff at night(sounds familiar, ne?).

My boss happens to be one of those with the strangest piercing. He has one on his left eyebrows, four on his right, a diamond nose ring, seven on both his ears, two on his tongue, and the last one is his belly button. Apart from all that he's a pretty cool guy! Friendly, outgoing, hilarious, short tempered if you insult is employees or friends, and a sensitive artist. He does sculptures and abstracts, they're pretty awesome!

But anyway, I gotta say hi and ask for a week off. I mean look at my state! I can't carry around three hundred pound boxes full of books! Although he's rather friendly he's kinda strict when it comes to work. Gaara and Neji are getting a kick out of watching me argue about how I can't work. Look at them sitting there, drinking their lattes. Just 'cause I have one usable arm doesn't mean I can still do so much! My boss glared at me when I started using my puppy eyes. Yes! Score for Naruto! He ruffled my hair and agreed to a week, any longer and I'm working twice as hard once I get back.

I smile sheepishly at him and nod. Yeah yeah, I'll be back in exactly a week. Well! Shopping time now! With a playful yank, I pulled Neji and Gaara all around the mall. To video game stores, music stores, hehe, even the pet shop. Look at those cute little puppies!! Cough… um… Heh, maybe I should get one for Kiba, but I highly doubt he'd give it as much attention as he gives Akamaru.

Just as we were about to leave, something caught my eye. Something fluffy and white. I looked cautiously at Neji and Gaara and at the people occupying the store. Nobody was paying attention, so slowly I walked to the door with my hands in my pockets. I poked my head in through the door that was labeled 'employees only!' Don't think I listen to signs like that ok? I smiled brightly at the little white bundle in a cage. Its soft triangular ears flickered and its tail swished. Wanna know what it was?

A cute snow fox. He stared at me with bright yellow eyes but looked like he was ready to kill. You know, it's so tempting to sneak all the way in and free the little guy. Wild animals don't deserve to be locked up in a small cage like that. I was just about to step a foot inside and pet him but a small had touched my shoulder.

Jumping at the unexpected touch I looked over my shoulder with the cutest grin I could muster. But it melted away when I saw the one of the prettiest girls I have seen in a long while. A blush grazed over my cheeks.

"Erm…"

"Sir, didn't you read the sign? Employees only." She said to me sternly.

Her fair face was framed by two long strands of brownish black hair and her chocolate brown orbs swirled with innocence but they also had a pinch of intelligence and complexity. Her frame was small, even behind that size too big red button-up shirt and beige pants and she was a few inches shorter than him. The rest of her silky looking hair was pulled into a tight bun and decorative chopsticks held it together.

"Erm, yes I did… I was just, looking at that fox over there." I nodded my head to the fox who was now clawing at the caged as if he wanted to see who else was there.

"Oh, Youko," The girl smiled and pushed the door open a little more and knelt down to the cage.

She stuck a finger inside and the fox nipped the finger then nuzzled it. "He's a sweetheart," She looked over her shoulder and stared deep in my eyes. I fidget. "Do you like foxes?" I nodded. My throat feels like it sewn together, this does not feel right. I mean this girl is very pretty and everything but does my throat have to feel like this?

She giggled and I turned redder. "That's nice to know, foxes are pretty smart and talented creatures." She pulled Youko out and held him carefully. "Want to pet him?"

Slowly I raise a hand and the fox recoils just a bit. "Um… I think he'll bite me," I laughed sheepishly and let my hand fall limply back to my side.

The girl scoffed and took my hand, placing it on the fur. Youko purred when she made my hand pet him and rub him behind his ears. Soon I was able to do it myself. The girl's arms loosened and the fox jumped on my shoulder, nuzzling my cheek.

"I think he likes you," She smiled brightly and stuck her hand out for a shake. "I'm Haku by the way."

"Naruto," I laugh out as I took her hand and Youko played with my earlobe. "You know you're very pretty."

Haku looked at me then snickered. Did I say something wrong? "Thanks, but I should get back to work. Come on Youko, I'll give you some food at lunch. I don't think Mr. Naruto would want his ear to be chewed off and in your stomach." Haku patted Youko's stomach and pulled him off of me. After kissing his nose, she placed him back in his cage and dusted her shirt free of fur.

"Well, you have to get out of here before you get in trouble as well as me," Haku playfully pushed me out and I laughed at how small she was but she had enough strength to push me four steps away.

The worker turned around and locked the door and smiled at me. "Is there something you want?"

I almost blurted out 'your number?' but that would be very rude. Hey I'm not very bold when it comes to girls, don't bother asking why. I just respect girls. Personal lessons from Tsunade helped me realize that they are very special and shouldn't be taken for granted. Although some of them do in my opinion. Think of it as a less, but I think it'll just make them worse.

"Er, no. I was just looking around!" I yelped and jumped at the feeling of two fingers poking my sensitive sides.

"So that's where you were," Neji's voice ringed in my ear as Gaara continued to poke my sides as if he was fascinated with them.

"Yeah, YEAH! Stop it Gaara!!" A few heads turned and I blushed red, immediately knocking Gaara's hands away from him.

"Hello," Haku giggled. "So you're Naruto's friends?"

"Yes," Neji said then frowned. "And you?"

"Oh I'm just Haku, hopefully Naruto's new friend," Haku beamed at me and I think my blush seemed to go darker two shades because they were hot!

"Uh, yeah! She's my new friend!" I chuckled. Haku only snickered again. "What's wrong? Every time-"

"Naruto… I'm a boy."

And everything around me seemed to went quiet. Neji and Gaara seemed shocked like me—or did they? I really don't know. I was too busy staring intently at Haku. A… boy? IMMPOSSIBLE!

"HOW?!" I nearly shrieked. "You're too pretty be to boy!!" Haku shushed me with a finger on my lips and a bundle of giggles.

"Yeah I know I get that a lot. It's fun playing around with people like that." Haku's fingers delicately cover her, no, his lips as his fits of giggles grew slightly louder.

I shook my head and stuttered. "But… But… But you! And th-the… and how?"

"So we're friends right?"

That little… How could he do that to me? Play along with me thinking he is a she!? I gulped down the words of anger and rubbed the back of my head after Gaara hit it to stop me from stuttering so much. I know, I sounded like a fool.

"Uh… yeah, sure…" I was a little uneasy.

"Great!" Haku pulled out a sharpie and scribbled numbers on my good arm. I gulped once more when he made a little heart at the end. That was a little… cute. Haku pulled away and continued to smile at me.

"Well, nice to meet you Naruto and…"

Gaara nudged me to wake me up from daze. But like a typical Gaara move, he nudged me too hard. After glaring at him I said. "This is Neji," I pointed at the scowling ex-boyfriend of mine. "And this is Gaara" Gaara only nodded as a greeting and dragged Neji away, saying something about meeting at the cake shop.

I scratched the side of my nose after Haku added them to his sentence and looked at me with those big brown eyes. "They seem nice."

I scoffed. "Yeah, if you don't get on their bad side." I stuffed my hand in my pocket and kicked a few doggy kibbles on the ground.

"Oh come on, are you embarrassed?"

Now I couldn't say yes and I couldn't say no. So I just shrugged. Haku seemed to find me funny.

"So you'll call me right?" Man, he really did act like a girl. I can't even master that! Gaara and Neji can maybe, but I think their prides are too big to be doing that. I finally manage the old Naruto smile and nodded.

"Yeah! You got it!" Haku's smile grew.

"Haku!" Someone gruffly called across the room. Haku looked over her shoulder and waved. Damnit, I gotta stop saying he's a she.

"That's my cue to get back to work, see ya around!" Haku turned heel and walked gracefully to the person who called him.

I gulped and turned to. That was an interesting experience. Thinking about it as I walked to the cake shop I had to laugh. That was rather funny, but the fact that I was blushing so hard was not.

Looking down at my arm that held Haku's number, that evil blush came back. He was just too cute and pretty to be boy! Slightly frowning, I jogged the rest of the way to the cake shop. Ow, shoot I can't even jog without my arm hurting! Anyway, at the cake shop, there was Gaara and Neji, in a little booth that only held two. I chuckled.

"Wow, I didn't know that you two were secretly dating!" I slung my arm around Gaara's shoulder. "Way to go Gaara! Ain't he a great kisser-OW!"

Neji had kicked me in the shins and Gaara slammed his fist on my head. I whimpered and looked at them both with my doughy puppy blue eyes as I rubbed the parts they had hit. Aren't they mean? "That hurt you guys…"

"Good," they said in unison.

"And stop looking like that or you don't get any cake," Damn you Neji.

I pouted and crossed my arms over my chest as I sat on Gaara's knee.

"Stop looking like that as well. You're not a baby Naruto."

"And if I was I would get everything from you two!"

Neji looked at me hard as Gaara drank his tea and ate his cake in little bites. The intellectual Hyuuga grumbled something about bratty blue eyed blondes and passed me my cookie dough cake.

I cheered and quickly stuffed a piece into my mouth. "Oh! And by the way, not all blue eyed blondes are bratty!"

"You are… and I was only referring to you." Neji looked at me with a sly grin and I was tempted to through my cake at him, Gaara too, because I can feel him snickering.

Soon I too laughed and we all enjoyed our cake. Man is this a great day! Nothing could ruin this day!

Around 1:30 I saw a head that supported long bubble gum pink hair that could only belong to one person. It seems I had spoken too soon. Groaning, I buried my face in Gaara's shoulder, I almost covered my ears as well as Sakura and her gang of cheerleaders walking in giggling like mad.

Gaara looked across the room and frowned deeply as he drank the rest of his tea. Neji too was frowning after he looked over his shoulder. The looks in their eyes promised death if either one of those girls dared to insult me.

Why were they here anyway?! Were they ditching? I could rat on them, but that wouldn't be right in my book. No matter how cold Sakura and those girls could be.

Peeking a little bit, one of the cheerleaders whispered in Sakura's ear as she stared at my table. Oh god no… Sakura's head immediately turned my way and her glare scorched me. As if I wasn't damaged enough.

Sakura stuck her nose in the air and returned to ordering her own sweets. The girls soon got into a misfit of whispers and giggles, none of which sounded good. Letting my head raise a little, I continued to watch them, thinking of actions I should take if they came over this way.

Gaara's arm was wrapped protectively around my waist, rubbing comforting circle on my stomach. My chin rested on hit head and I looked away from those girls. And this day was going so well too. Neji sighed and pulled gently on my bangs. "Want to leave Naruto?"

Sakura looked like she was ready to kill me as well as Ino. I gulped and nodded feverishly. Although this was one of my most favorite shops, being in it with a group of girls that apparently wanted to run me over and feed me to sharks was anything but fun. Neji and Gaara packaged their cakes as well as mine and we all stood to leave. I hurriedly walked to the door on the other side of the shop but Sakura called—screeched in my opinion—my name and out of habit I stopped.

I cursed myself. Noooo!! I was almost gone!

"Naruto!" She called again, stomping my way.

I looked over my shoulder as Neji and Gaara guarded my back. "Yeah?" I asked sincerely.

"Don't you play innocent with me! Why did you do that to Sasuke?!" Oh, so she was now on first name terms with him? Isn't that a joy? Sarcasm included right there.

"Do what?" Now I really was playing innocent. "Beat the crap out of him?"

Sakura turned beet red from anger and made a move to give me a piece of her mind. But the sight of Neji and Gaara glaring at her, she stopped.

"Naruto Uzumaki," She said in a deadly voice that sent chills up my spine "I swear if you hurt Sasuke anymore-"

"I won't, as long as he doesn't piss me off and hurt me."

The girls gathered around Sakura and gasped. "Sasuke would never do that!" One of them screamed.

"What? You think he's an innocent angel? Look what he did to me!" I gave them a full view of my front that had scratches and bruises and my arm in the sling. "I can't go to school for a week!"

"You deserve what you got," Ino said haughtily.

I puffed my cheeks out and bit back the rude comment I was just about to say to her. Mentally, I calmed myself down. Don't want to start a scene, not here; last time I did manager banned me for a whole month. My tooth for cakes drove me insane.

"You think I started it? He insulted me!" There were murmurs of disbelief and Sakura opened her mouth to talk back up Neji spoke.

"Haruno, if you know what is good for you and your family, you had best keep that mouth of yours shut." Neji tossed at glare at them all and pushed Naruto gently to the exit. I stuck my tongue out childishly at them and winked before I turned to the open mall.

"Well, at least that didn't ruin my day completely!" I skipped and twirled before Gaara looped an arm around mine and dragged me off.

"Don't you dare start acting like a ballerina," Gaara grumbled.

"Why?" I poked his cheek and dodged a smack. Ha! "So violent Gaara."

And so the day went on. I was gifted with new clothes, books, and delicious foods. I was grinning like a fool before I realized I was being pampered by my two best friends. Hastily I bought them something too. I bought Gaara a stuffed panda (believe it or not he likes those cute little guys) and Neji, some really complicated ancient books that I know he doesn't have. It might not seem much but, it's what comes from the heart right?... Occasionally!

Gaara looked like he was going to collapse when it was dusk. Neji and I half dragged him back to Neji's car and in there he fell fast asleep. Freakin' vampire person. Well… I should say day vampire. Gaara looked kinda cute though!! I mean look at him!! All curled up with his red scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face and his new little panda bear snuggled up tight in his arms. I gig-chuckled and reached over to poke his cheek.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you Naruto," Neji warned as he stopped at a red light.

"Aww, why not?"

"Remember the last time you did that?" Neji ruffled my hair as if to shake my mind into memory.

I growled and waved his hand away. Yeah yeah I remember Neji… Gaara nearly ripped my finger off and threw almost everything at me. What was up with these two? It's almost like the most terrible thing to do in the world is to wake them up! I mean come on the waking up isn't that bad…

Feeling my head droop, I placed it on Neji's shoulder. Mm, warm.

"Naruto get off, I can't drive right!" Neji shrugged my head away from him and made a right turn.

I stared at Neji through the side of my eyes as I leaned against the window. Wanna know something? Before, Neji really didn't care if I laid my head on his shoulder when he was driving. He even once let me lay my head on his lap while he was driving!

…I guess that's what breaking up does to two people… nothing is ever the same. I sighed and hastily wiped on coming tears. Ok, yes I'm a big baby when it comes to Neji. Which I'm sure was easy to figure out. A sigh reached my ears and a hand gripped my knee.

"Naruto… we can't be as we were before, you know this." I sniffled and glared out the window. No need to tell me that Neji. You're only making it worse!

Neji blinked then looked at me. Oops… did I say that out loud? Groaning I banged my head on the window.

"Neji I-" Neji held a hand up, signaling the end and went back to driving.

Angry at myself, I banged my head harder on the window. I should break it then stab myself with the broken glass. Way to ruin the day Naruto! As street lights turned on and the sky got darker making it a cold dusky evening, I watched cars pass by. From normal to funky to cool. There was this one car I noticed. It was bloody red and its motor growled loudly every time its gear shifted. The pitch black windows were rolled down and two men were fighting, yelling and shoving. Ohh, a lovers quarrel.

When the driver turned his attention back to the street the other noticed me staring, and I noticed that styled hair and cold porcelain skin. There was Sasuke, turning his head to me, with a few stitches and bandages on his face. I gulped and tried to look away. Come on head!! Move!! Eyes! Stop staring! He'll notice! But once we locked eyes I was permanently glued to him. I gulped down a thick lump in my throat as he searched through my eyes liked he did yesterday morning. A smirk formed onto his lips and he went back to driving, his eyes promising not to leave mine.

A large rock crashed into my gut at a horrid thought that crossed my mind. Was Sasuke… going to follow us to my house? My throat went dry and I looked every where frantically. The light was still red but I knew it was going to turn green soon. Looking back at Sasuke I saw his fingers drumming on the steering wheel with anticipation. My answer was hammering onto my scalp. Hell yes he was going to fall us home. To MY home!

"N-Neji…" I murmured.

"Hm?"

"DRIVE! DRIVE FAST!!" The minute the light turned green I slammed my foot on Neji's that was over the gas pedal.

Gaara was jerked away when his head hit the back of my seat and he quickly fastened his seat belt. Should've had it on in the first place Gaara! "What the fuck are you doing Neji!?"

"It's not me it's- OW!! NARUTO!!!" I panicked and only pressed hard as I stared at the rearview mirror. Sasuke… That bastard! He's speeding too! "NARUTO MOVE YOUR FOOT!"

"Go to Kakashi's house!" You know that guy always did tell me if I felt I was being followed don't go home, go somewhere else, police station or his house. Why he ever suggested his home was a puzzle to me but right now I don't care! I just wanted to get away from the speed, sick and hellish demon!

"WHAT?!" the car echoed with my two best friends constant yelling and threats.

"Just do it!"

* * *

Yay! Another chapter done! Sorry I took so long to update!! I was too busy bubbling up ideas and not much of them glued together. So here you have it:D Enjoy and review! 

Remember I love good, nice appreciating reviews and constructive criticism.


	3. Chapter 3

**WARNINGS:** Read first chapter for warnings. If you don't like then don't read!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

I refuse to remove my foot from Neji's! And I can't tell them exactly why I'm making him speed! And knowing Neji, he would immediately pull over and angrily question me. By the time I spit out the truth Sasuke would be at the window smirking at me with that devilish smirk of his that I hate so much… 

Ok I don't know if half of that will happen but the first half I'm positive.

"Goddamnit Naruto! Move!" Neji screamed, trying not to crash into anyone.

"If I let go will you drive straight to Kakashi's in this same speed?!" I looked at the speed meter. 120, whoa… too fast.

"Why?!" Is there ever an argument I have that doesn't include the infamous question 'why'?

"Please Neji!" I pleaded looking at the rear view mirror once more. Sasuke's car was so close.

Gaara must've spotted me staring into the mirror because he asked, "Whose car is that Naruto?"

I could only gulp and press a little harder on Neji's possibly bruised foot.

"Naruto I swear if you don't remove your foot from mine-"

Neji never had time to finish his sentence for he had to cut several people because they were driving terribly slow and he feared of crashing. Smart move, 'cause even then I don't think I would've lifted my foot up. We made more twists and turns, skillfully dodging cars as we ran red lights. If we were girls we would be screaming our heads off, but instead, Neji and Gaara were cursing and threatening me, loudly too.

Neji was having the hardest time driving with the pain in his foot and his growing anger at me. I mean come on Neji! If the police catch you at least you can pay it off! Besides… I've seen you speed before; don't know if you got a ticket though.

As we drew nearer to Kakashi's house the street started to get really crowded. My foot over Neji's grew lighter and when I saw that Sasuke was behind us by five cars I removed it completely.

Neji sighed in relief and reached down to rub his foot as they stopped at a red light. Gaara, however, socked me so hard my forehead hit the dashboard. Ow! Man! That hurt! I winced and groaned in pain throbbing in my left arm. When did I hurt that again?

"Idiot…" Gaara mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck.

I rubbed my arm—it was in more pain than my forehead—then relaxed in my seat. A frustrated sigh left my ex-boyfriend's lips and I could feel his heated glare on me. So not cool. I chuckled nervously, my cheeks having a tinge of pink. Neji's rather sexy when he's mad… Moving on!

"Would you care to explain to us _why_ you made us go so fast?" His voice was dripping with venom. Deadly venom.

"Um, if we still go to Kakashi's house… maybe I will!" I poked Neji's cheek.

Ow, ow, ow! Gaara bit my wrist giving me a warning glare. So I'm guessing he means, if I don't tell they're promising pain…

Ok I get it… "Ok I will! Let go Gaara!" I whimpered and tried to push him off, but my red haired panda wouldn't budge. "Gaaaara!!"

"You schear it Naruto?" he asked even as he still clamped onto my wrist.

Ew, I feel drools…

"Yes I swear it! Now let go of me!" One more tug and he let go. I inspected my wrist for marks and scowled at him. "That hurt you bastard…"

Gaara said nothing, he only smirked evilly and picked up his stuffed panda and went back to sleep. This time with his seat belt safely secured. I huffed. Annoying son of a bitch. And he cuddles with my present to him! I should take that back.

Neji didn't seem as happy either. As he made one last turn, we were driving down Kakashi's neighborhood. At this moment, I feel safer. I sighed in deep relief and stared up at the sunroof where the stars twinkled laughingly at me.

I frowned. Man why me? God I'm not that girly! Why do I have to have a guy as good looking and infuriating as Sasuke after me? My life was perfect before he came along. Well somewhat perfect. I mean I have the two greatest friends, several adults who actually care and seem like family to me and a small pack of friends that have my back when I need it.

It's only two days and I'm growing crazier!

"Naruto…" I heard a murmur behind me. I blinked and listened closely to Gaara.

"That was Sasuke… wasn't it?"

I inhale deeply and chose not to answer. Gaara took that as a yes and rubbed the back of my neck soothingly. I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly. A barely audible whisper of thanks left my lips and I leaned forward away from his fingers.

I sniffled and played around with my sneakers. You know how dirty these things are? Sometimes I amaze myself at how messy I could be.

My ring tone echoed in all of our ears as I snuck around in my pockets. That was Kakashi's ring tone. I don't know why he chose that one. Seeing a picture of a smiling Kakashi with his turtleneck covering his lower face on the front of my phone I smiled a bit. Trying to regain back my hyperactive attitude I flipped my phone open and smiled brightly.

"Hey! Kakashi! How are ya?"

"Oh, I'm quite alright Naruto. By the way, was that Neji's car I saw speeding on the news?"

I laughed nervously and looked at Neji through the side of my eye. His forehead was in deep wrinkles and his eyes showed high irritation.

"Nope!"

"Oh really? Well then who are those adorable blonde and red head I see in there?" I blushed and rubbed the back of my neck.

"Uh, Kakashi? Yeah that was us…" I grumbled. "Why are we on the news?"

"Mah, there's a crew around the city videotaping speed chase; you'd be surprise who's on TV. By the way, who's in the car chasing you guys?" Damnit I hate his tone of voice. It's all humorous and lazy. Couldn't he ever be concerned for once?

"I don't know..." I murmured, fidgeting, a dead give away I think. Gaara scoffed behind me and poked his head through the little space between me and Neji. His sea-green eyes stared at the dashboard as if he was undeniably fascinated by it.

"Hmm? You don't know? That's rather strange, why speed then if you don't know who?"

"Well I mean come on Kakashi! Everywhere we went the car went! You must be aware of your surroundings! You know all this stuff you teach me… do you even really think about it for yourself?"

I heard a mocking gasp over the line. "Why Naruto! How could you say that? Of course I think about it for myself. Hmm?"

Kakashi suddenly when quiet. I pulled the phone away from my ear to check the reception. Don't you hate it when you're having an intimate conversation but the reception sucks as hell and your calls are dropped? That irritates the fuck outta me! Placing the phone back on my ear I called my teacher's name.

"Oh sorry… It's just I know that car…"

I paled. "What car?"

"The one behind you."

I had just realized we stopped and my friends were exiting the car. Looking through my window I saw Kakashi standing in his doorway with his phone pressed against his ear and his hand scratching his head. He was drenched in sweat—it's obvious with the large wet spot running down the front of his shirt—with a fluffy why towel wrapped around his neck. His eyes were staring past me with lazy eyes as Gaara and Neji said their 'hello's and walked inside.

Gulping, I hurriedly rush out of the car, getting caught in my seatbelt. I slammed the car door shut and bolted to the door, tackling Kakashi inside his own home. Kakashi sputtered words incoherently as I scrambled to my feet and shut the door so tight I expected the walls to shake off dust..

"Naruto what's wrong?" Kakashi asked, dusting off his pants.

I chose not to answer. How could I? I looked through the heavily curtained window and saw Sasuke's car pull up. The engines purred softly as he pulled closer to Kakashi's home. Go away damnit!!

I heard a little shuffle behind me and looked over my shoulder, spotting a pale muscled arm near it. Kakashi stared out the window and chuckled. "Well what do you know…"

I whimpered and shoved Kakashi away. This can not be happening! There is no way my substitute teacher is going to stop by here, or even wait for me to leave! If he is I'm staying here until morning, I mean he doesn't really know Kakashi… Right? Tell me I'm right.

"Neji!" I flew behind my ex-boyfriend and hugging him tight, burying my face into his back.

Gaara and Neji raised an eyebrow at my weirdness and took a seat in one of Kakashi's chairs. Neji had difficulty seeing as how I'm latched on tightly to his back.

"Naruto, can you move?" Neji hissed. Apparently, he's still mad at me. Look Neji, just soak your feet in nuke warm water and you'll be cool.

Frantic, I ran to Gaara and snuggled behind next to him on the couch making sure my body wasn't visible. The doorbell rang and I yelped and covered myself with a few more pillows. God, why are you doing this to me?! Haven't I been tortured enough?!

Gaara noticed the discomfort on my face from the somewhat painful position my arm was in and fixed it, placing another pillow on me. He then rested his elbow on my head and changed the channel Kakashi was watching. Ok ow… I can feel a bone digging in my skull.

Kakashi's dull white door creaked open and a lazy 'hello' came from my teacher.

"Well, what brings you to the neighborhood?" Kakashi asked.

"Well, I was hoping to say hello to a little blonde dobe, seen one anywhere around here, cousin?"

I choked and covered my mouth as Gaara pinched me. Cousin?! They're related?!

"Nope, sorry Sasuke, just a brunette like you and a red haired panda. May I ask why you're asking for a blond?"

Sasuke snorted and tapped his foot. "Don't lie to me Kakashi."

"Now, now, Sasuke, you may be stronger than me in business but I can always toss you around like the little boy you really are."

The three of us snickered and covered our mouths. Now that was funny. I wanna see!

"Hn. So," there was a slight sound of shove and steps heading toward the den where the three of us resided, "just Sabaku and Hyuuga, hm?"

"Yes, and I would appreciate it if you didn't so rudely enter my house Sasuke."

"Knock knock, can I come in?" The smell of Neji and Sasuke's cologne grew two times and Gaara coughed. Cologne never worked with him. His nose was far too sensitive for two people with the same cologne to be in the same room.

…

Wait a minute… Sasuke's in the room now?! Shit….

"Er, Sasuke-"

"So!" Sasuke interrupted rudely, clapping his hands against the doorframe as if to get Neji and Gaara's attention. "Where's your little friend? Where's little Naruto?"

Gaara growled and Neji kept his cool. But you can tell from my point of view that he's having a very difficult time. Go away Sasuke! I never wanted you in my life…

"Not going to answer? And they say I'm rude."

"You _are_ rude when you enter without your host's permission," Neji spat.

"Watch it Hyuuga, do you want me to do the same to you as I did your little boyfriend?"

"Keep your hands off of Naruto, Sasuke," Neji hissed, slowly rising up from his chair.

A cold shiver went up my spine as I saw Neji's fist clench and unclench. Neji was a fighter when you pushed him too hard or he needed to protect someone, namely me and Hinata. But even so…I feared for him. Something about Sasuke frightened me deeply. From every pore on his body oozed out sinister power that promised nothing but breathtaking pain. Just being in the same room with him and you could feel something evil, like you're in the presence of a demon.

A hungry demon.

A hungry demon that thrived on the flesh and blood of young boys.

Goosebumps grew on my own flesh and they itched. Damn… and I can't move! Kakashi get him out of here!!

"Temper temper. And besides…" I could hear the click or leather boots connecting with the wooden floor and soon muffled by the rug. "I like," Sasuke's body soon came to my line of vision through my small opening of pillows. "touching Naruto. Didn't he ever tell you that your old rival is back? And after that precious little trophy of yours?"

Trophy? What trophy? Frowning deeply I held myself back from revealing my hiding spot and tackling Sasuke to the ground, wondering if he was talking about me. You know I bet you he is! Unless he's talking about like a prize or money that Neji has. He has a lot of those you know. Just take a walk in their little mansion-like cottage next to their actual home! It's filled with nothing but gold medals and bulky cups.

Neji looked at me—and I'm hoping from Sasuke's point of view he's looking at Gaara. Anger, hatred and a pinch fear overlapped his extravagant eyes but they promised their own piece of pain. Turning his attention back to Sasuke, you could see the muscles in his jaw working.

"You will stay away from Naruto, Uchiha. You may have a contract with my uncle but that doesn't mean I will not refrain from killing you. If I ever see or hear that you have been touching Naruto, you can be sure that I will come after you. Now leave."

I blinked then smiled slightly.

Neji's demeanor screamed cool and intellect. And a little anger. But I'm guessing with all that training in that freakish family of his he would be like this when needed.

Sasuke threw his head back and laughed. Shit, even his laugh is sexy! But the evil sexy kind of laugh… You know, when you watch one of those chick flicks with the villain who's the sexiest out of all the men through the whole damn movie? And even though they are evil, girls still faint and squeal when they laugh and rewind the cursed movie like 50 times on that one part just to hear it again? Yeah… He has that laugh.

"He's really here isn't he?" Sasuke turned and looked around the place with his hands on his hips. "I saw him in your car; I can only imagine what went through his mind when he saw me. Was it excitement?"

Gaara growled softly and had a firm grip on my hair. Ow!! Damn! I know you're not happy right now but let go!!

"Sasuke, please, leave my house now," Kakashi said. His voice was still lazy but was laced with seriousness and malice.

Sasuke snorted. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at Kakashi. I bit my lip to be sure to not add anything to what Kakashi just said. Do you have _any_ idea how hard it is for me to keep my mouth shut in situations like this!?

Sasuke's face was blank and his eyes were void. What the fuck? What happened to all the mockery? All the mischievousness that I just saw on him? He was laughing his head off not to long ago and smiling! Well, smirking. Now he was scowling. He didn't seem too happy.

"Kaka-"

"Now Sasuke, if you want Naruto, you're going to have to get him another day. I just cleaned my house and I would absolutely _love_ it if you would mess it up." I snickered. Way to go sarcastic Kakashi. "You've already dragged in a black trail on my newly polished floor and plucked out the threads on the new carpet Iruka had bought me.

"Mess it up and my dogs will be the last of your worries. I've got a mad mother hen in my bedroom right now. Would you like him to peck you to death after he sees the mess that my sweet younger cousin made all because he was being a spoiled brat?"

Neji smirked and crossed his arms as well. Sasuke however, stayed the same. He scoffed and started to leave. You could practically see the blackness that Kakashi was talking about earlier. Or did he really mean dirt?

"So Hyuuga? Care to take up the challenge? Then again… it doesn't really matter if you agree or not. Cause I always get what I want. One way or another. You know how it works." The last of Sasuke was heard when the front door slammed.

I roughly stuck my head out and inhaled deeply. Man was it hard to breathe in there! And let go of me Gaara! Angrily, I wrenched his fingers from my hair and rubbed my scalp. Gaara just blinked then went back to surfing through channels. Oh, he's gonna get punched by me when we get home. I pulled my self out from my hiding spot and froze.

The tension in the den was still somewhat heavy. Kakashi's eyes were narrowed down to slits and staring at his front door where you could hear the rumbling of Sasuke's engines. Neji was glaring at the coffee table like it was the most disgusting thing he had ever seen. Gaara… Well Gaara was just staring at the TV screen, obviously bored out of his mind and acting like nothing interesting really happened.

"Um… guys?" No one answered. "You know Kakashi, your couch smells like sex…" I waved my hand over my nose that was wrinkled. It really didn't but I remember one time I came over and slept on that same couch. After my teachers had they're little fun on it. God that was so disturbing…

Kakashi's head snapped to me and you could practically hear the crack of a whip when he did that. The silver-haired teacher stared at me, as if he was reading some new confidential information. I blinked and fidgeted. It's kind of annoying being stared at like that… Where's Iruka when I need him?

"So… how's Iruka?"

Nothing.

"Um, how have you been? Did you read Jiraiya's new book?"

Damnit Kakashi, say something!

A sigh passed his lips.

Ok well that's a little better…

"Naruto… What-"

"Hey! Are you really related to that bastard!?" I nearly screeched, remembering earlier what they called each other.

"Yes, but we're very distant cousins." Did he mean that literally? "Naruto, what were you thinking?"

"What? I didn't do anything! I swear!"

"Then why is Sasuke after you?" He crossed his arms and glared at me. I felt like a five year old child who just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

But the thing is I'm not trying to steal a cookie, I'm trying to get my ball that fell in there!

"I honestly don't know! All I know is that he's my new sub for Iruka and he's been annoying me since we first laid eyes on each other!" I pouted and pointed at my patched up arm. "And he did this to me! If he wasn't such a jerk maybe he wouldn't have those scratches on him either… And why are you so worried? It's not like you care…"

In truth, I don't know if Kakashi cares. He plays around too much to show that he does. And he feeds me to that mother hen of his. Kakashi sighed, let his head fall to his chest, and then had a ghost of a smile on his lips. His lips moved slightly, as if he was whispering to himself. Great, now I have a lunatic teacher.

"Actually I do care, when it comes to Sasuke especially," Kakashi lifted his head patted my head. "Well, I'm proud that you took care of yourself when the time was needed! Nobody can baby-sit you forever!"

The tension left, but my own anger grew. I could feel laughing smirks from Gaara and Neji.

"GODDAMNIT KAKASHI!"

And so, the night at the lazy, brainless Kakashi's house began.

And it almost ended when Iruka saw my arm…

"Naruto!!" he hollered.

I grimace at the sight of him. Although he look like a sick teenager with the blankets wrapped firmly around him, his face—red and full of anger—was that of a mother's. Now you know why Kakashi calls Iruka a mother hen.

"What happened?! Who did that to you?! Why weren't you in school today?!" I shrunk with every question he bombarded me with. "Young man do you have any idea how much I was worried? I called the school to check up on you and I hear you're absent?! I get no phone call from you and I'm forced to stay in bed and worry about you!"

"One question at a time Iruka…" I rubbed the back of my head as he stomped toward me with parental rage radiating off of him. "Well umm, as you can see I got hurt, and it's because of this I wasn't in school today. When I go get this checked out then I can go back to school. I swear!!" I laughed nervously. Do you know how scary he looks when he's like this? It's like… you just wanna hide under your bed and hope they don't ever find you.

Iruka was still fuming. The man had to be held back by Kakashi, who seemed to find this very funny.

"You still have yet to answer the most crucial question! Who did it?! And regardless, Tsunade _is_ a veteran doctor with a Ph. D. How long did she keep you out?!"

"Um… well I think she's gonna put me back in, about a couple days from now..." I bit the inside of my cheek.

Did you guys know that Tsunade _always_ says stuff to me then turns around and does the '_right_' thing? Yeah, and sadly the right thing to do is put me back in school like three days after the incident. Not a whole week or two. But don't tell Tsunade I know that. She'd rip _my_ hair out, not hers.

"Naruto…" he tried to slow down his breathing and let his vein shrink. He straightened himself and went into a coughing fit.

"Iruka," Kakashi said in a sing song voice. "You know the doctor told you to stay in bed. Your sickness is contagious and it's going to make you black out if you don't go back to where you belong."

Iruka gave Kakashi a heated glare then sighed. "You're right… I'll see you later Naruto. Be good ok? Good-night Gaara, Good-night Neji." He trudged back to the halls and made a right.

"Good-night Mr. Umino," my friends said in unison.

I let out a sigh of relief. It's really irritating to have people breathing down your necks and stuff. No matter how much you love the person, they gotta give you your own space, ya know?

Kakashi rubbed his forehead "Now Naruto, why did you go and raise up Iruka's blood pressure like that?"

I frowned. That bastard. "You know Kakashi, I thought Iruka's sickness was contagious… how come you have yet to catch it?"

The silver haired teacher slammed his fist against his chest. "I do catch it, but I take my medications, eat my fruits and vegetables, and sweat it all out before it can really get me."

"You're a bitch ya know that?"

Kakashi held up his hands in defense. "At times yes I am. But right now no."

The rest of the night, Neji, Gaara, and I lounged in Kakashi's living room. Kakashi made us dinner and stayed with Iruka. Unfortunately, none of us touched Kakashi's dinner. Instead, we tossed it to his dog, Pakun. It's not normal for food to be burnt and move right? I thought not…

It was quiet except for the soothing howls from Kakashi's dogs, Iruka's threats to his boyfriend/nurse, and the voices from the T.V.

Kakashi came to check up on us every now and then. I swear, he seems upset that we're still here at 9 o'clock. Oh well.

A phone rang and Gaara reached into his pocket. I watched, my heart jumping to my throat. I hope that wasn't his father. Sometimes I can't stand that man. But because I fear him, I can't say much to his face like I do with others. The man has my respect for being so worldly and managing a well connected and powering company but if Gaara is yelling at him that must mean something.

Gaara flipped open his phone and murmured a 'hello?'

The voice on the other line didn't sound harsh or loud. In fact I could barely hear it. Gaara nodded a couple of times, and gave an occasional 'yes I understand.' My racing mind started to slow down and I rested in my part of the couch peacefully. Good to know it wasn't him. I'd go crazy if it was.

"Yes, I'll be there in a few minutes. Good-bye Temari." Gaara stood up and walked to the front door with his hands in his pockets.

I frowned slightly. If he wanted to leave he could've said so rather than just get up and expect us to follow him.

Neji turned off the entertainment box and piled the dirtied dishes up and headed to the kitchen. I scratched my head. I kinda wanna spend the night here. 'Cause I mean Sasuke could be right outside!!! Waiting for the perfect moment to stalk then strike. Aw man this is so not cool. I sighed and dug my fingers in my sun kissed hair. Why me? Just… WHY?

"Hey, Naruto," Kakashi's lazy voice hovered over me.

I acknowledged him with a small "Hm?" and stared down at my torn up sneakers.

"You might want to be careful around my cousin."

"You think I don't know that?!" I hollered. How could I not? I've had a bad feeling about that guy ever since he stepped into my homeroom!

Kakashi's eyes were wrinkled into a happy smile. Don't you think he's so weird? When he's trying to be all parentally stern he smiles? He would make a seriously creepy dad.

"Yes well you should now. And I suggest you stay in your apartment until you are fully healed. Don't want to get in another fight that you can't win this time, eh?" My P.E. teacher reached down and ruffled my hair then grabbed me by the collar of my shirt.

What the fuck?

"Now get out of my house." That same smile was literally glued to his face as he effortlessly carried me to the front door.

I just let him do that, dumbfounded. Ok am I really that light weight? Or is Kakashi taking steroids? He placed me on the brick doorsteps and pushed me off.

"Be a good boy and say hi to Tsunade for me would you?" He waved them good-bye and quickly shut the door.

I stared at the door as if it held disgusting truths about the lifestyles of Kakashi. No doubt it did. Not long after he had thrown me out, you could hear a lamp crashing and breaking onto a thick skull and a dull thud. More yelling too. Iruka.

A shiver went up and down my spine and I jogged to Neji's BMW. Gaara was once again asleep, cuddled up to the panda I gave him. I snickered and grabbed my phone, going to camera mode.

"Take it and die Naruto…" Gaara mumbled sleepily.

"But it's just so cute!" I laughed and took one.

Aquamarine eyes glared years of pain to me and I gulped down my heart, laughing nervously. Honestly, the guy doesn't know the real meaning of fun. Along with blackmail.

The ride back to my house was a quiet one. That blood red sports car that belongs to Sasuke was no where in sight and I relaxed perfectly thank you very much.

Soon the streets started to look familiar and loud music from outside banged against the car. Figures, someone would be having a party tonight. It's Tuesday right? Yeah… Some guy who moved in not too long ago always had a party every Tuesday night. His room was across from mine. And since we were in different buildings it wasn't easy to just walk over and ask them to turn down the music when I was trying to sleep.

I snorted. However, there were times when I just accepted it. Like when I have a ton of homework and the noise kept me up. Cheap and annoying but hey it got me to get full credit on my homework.

God, if Tsunade knew about that she would request for the guy to throw a party everyday. I gulped at the thought and sunk in my seat. Dear God please don't let her find out about that.

I just realized there's a lot of things I fear for Tsunade to find out... is that even healthy?

Neji stopped in front of my building and frowned deeply at the music. I snickered. One time he stayed over my house for a week. Poor guy! He looked like he was about to grab something and fling it at the speakers through the window. Not that I would complain cause I mean the party was across my bedroom window.

Have you ever tried to sleep thinking that there would finally be no party that one night and then they start it at midnight right when you're having a great dream where you have everything in the world and no one could bring you down? God and it was so bad when they started the party at midnight! I was already asleep dreaming of girls and suddenly I'm thrown off my bed by the loudness of the bass. I wanted to scream murder so badly!

I slipped out of the BMW and sighed mournfully. Gaara's eyes were glinting laughingly at me and I childishly stuck my tongue out. Just because you live in a mansion that has no wild, crazy, sex driven neighbors doesn't mean you can look at me like that Gaara!

Neji was rubbing his temple where no doubt a vein was pounding in tune with the music.

"If it's driving you that crazy Neji you can go," I laughed lightly and closed the door.

I waved at the window and sighed as I turned to head to my paper thin walled room. Here's some advice… if you end up with an apartment and neighbors like mine, make sure to buy some sound proof windows and ear muffs for back up.

I dug around my pocket for my keys and frown. Damnit. I frisked myself for my keys and groaned. Great… lost them again. Do you fates hate me that much?

A hand moved past me and placed the key into the lock. "You're so helpless Naruto."

I pouted and shoved Neji away playfully with my shoulder. "Shut up Neji."

Neji tousled my hair and opened the door for me. I grinned my fox grin. "You're such a gentleman."

My ex just shook his head and shoved me inside the air conditioned lobby and tossed my keys at me. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you. You can't last even two minutes without me."

"Hey! I can to!" I shook my fist at him. How dare he mock me?! How can you mock someone as cute as me?

Scratch that…

Neji let a ghost of a smile grace his lips and he let go of the door. "Good-night Naruto."

Feeling a tinge of longing I smiled lightly too. "Later Neji, have fun at school tomorrow."

He nodded and headed back to his car.

I sighed and turned to look at the receptionist. She snickered lightly.

She was an elderly woman who was as wise as they come, despite the fact that she was crude with her words much like Jiraiya. I swear they must be like long lost relatives or something!

"So Naruto, when will he start to drag you back to your room for some 'fun'? The music tonight should add to the mood."

I frowned deeply, trying to fight back a blush that was boiling. That incident was so embarrassing!!! I was over at Neji's a few months into our relationship for a study date. YES! Study date. You heard me. I wasn't going to stay behind with a bunch of ninth graders just because I failed one class that made no sense what so ever. It was 2 in the morning when we came back and Neji was dragging me to my room because I was dead beat tired. My shirt was askew so you could easily see there were bite marks and hickeys all over my neck and collarbone.

I didn't expect her to be there at the time of the morning. She usually went to bed around 11 while her nephew took the night shift. I mean if it was him I wouldn't have minded because he goes to sleep on the desk around 12:30. He wouldn't have noticed me and Neji, or my embarrassing state.

Now this little old wrinkled lady was red herself and threw snide remarks at us. That woke me up and I started to drag Neji to my room. Unfortunately, that made her throw even more comments, each one more embarrassing than the other. Hopefully none of you ever go through that.

"Sorry old lady, but we're not allowed to do that anymore," I said with a forlorn smile.

She frowned. "And why not?"

"We're not together anymore," I threw over my shoulder, gritting my teeth.

I slammed a fist on the up button and leaned against the wall. Ok Naruto… Just try to get over it. Neji broke up with you almost a month ago because of his uncle… Just let go… Let go… Thatta boy…

I stepped in the elevator and pressed the last floor. I slumped against a corner of the elevator and wiped furiously at my face as if I was crying. Which I'm not by the way! Don't be fooled. I'm a very good actor. I sniffled and glared at the wall across from me. Is it too hard to ask for one speck of real happiness?

Sighing, I dusted myself and walked out. This isn't my floor of course; it's just the only way to get to the room without running up all those damn stairs. Jirairya made me run up and down those things when I was on the baseball team. I couldn't feel my legs for a good week.

I shoved the door to the roof open and let the cold air encase me. It's better to look at the stars from up here. As crazy as I may be I have my moments of needing tranquility. Like right now. Too much drama for one guy to handle, whether he's gay, straight, or bi. I carefully walked to the edge, there's some wobbly steps that you need to be careful of or some pieces of ceiling will fall on the people below you. And trust me, the people on this floor aren't all too nice.

I leaned over the edge of my apartment and stared at the bright lights below.

Now what am I going to do? Leaving my apartment isn't such a good idea… That Sasuke guy is a like a freakin' wild cat, waiting for the right moment to pounce. And I don't like playing the part of a prey. I snort.

But then again… just sitting around hoping nothing happens is very prey-ish…

…Shit…

I lift my head to the skies and stare at the stars winking at me. Why wink? I think because of the damn situation I'm in now they should laugh at me.

I gotta get my mind off of all this. Shrug it off or something… Because this isn't me, I'm usually all go-lucky and happy. Why? Cause then I can notice the greater things in life and don't let it all pass me by 'cause I'm overly depressed. Shoot with the way my life has been I'm surprised I haven't even fallen that far into depression. I know nothing about my parents, I've lived by myself since I was 6 with rarely any love, I've only been in one real relationship that was forced to be shattered not too long ago, I'm hated by 98 percent of the female population at school, and I have a teacher stalking me for reasons I don't even want to think about, despite the fact that he's only as old as Neji.

I sigh and glance back at the glittering city below me.

Teenage angst… Isn't it a bitch?

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Wheeee!! Thank you all so much for the alerts, favs, and reviews :D I couldn't be happier! And here we are, chapter three!! 

And so sorry for the long wait… I never meant for this to happen… Inspiration vanished because of some bitches that love to ruin my life. And honestly I don't think this chapter was all that great... however I will work my hardest on the next ones!

And I just noticed that this chapter is so much shorter... Mainly because there wasn't much to discuss about what goes on within Kakashi's home. As much as I love the guy but sadly the story isn't about him!!!D:

**TBC! and R&R please**


	4. Chapter 4

Nothing can excuse me from the lack of updates. I had promised myself no more abandoned stories and it looks like I have broken it. However, thanks to a great influential story that I have stayed up to finish read, I am back on trying to make this story work. I am quite frankly tired of leaving a story unfinished and letting go of so many fans that have actually read my story. Especially one that I was and am very fond of.

So you guys can scold me if you want. I deserve it haha. Most of you have probably dropped this story anyway..

By the way, the story that put my mind back on this story (even though I should being doing work) is _Those Weird Feelings No One Ever Gets_ by Hazy Daze.

I highly recommend this story if you like mine. It'll give you a bellyful of laughter and understanding. And laughter is something that many of my stories lack because I'm a very angsty girl and love the addictiveness of it.

**WARNINGS:** Read first Chapter for the warnings. If you haven't read them and you're having issues then why are you reading this chapter?

**DISCLAIMER:** All Characters rightfully belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I only own this plot bunny.

* * *

Geez… How long has it been? A week? Two?

Is the month almost over? God if you love me at all you'll snap your fingers and say it's been a month.

Last week was _hectic_. Not only was I ceased from playing in P.E from my arm, but I have been brutally tortured by the cheerleaders and the most popular girls in school. It's like my injuries are completely nonexistent in their eyes and all they see is their precious Mr. Uchiha bruised, scratched, and marred.

I washed out the last bit of rotten milk in my hair in the boy's restroom. Grumbling about why I even _liked_ girls who were so high maintenance and undeniable beautiful. Hmm… I think the latter was the main reason… I mean really, what boy in his right mind turn down a girl who looked like she was the most beautiful girl in the world, in every way possible? And if you're gay?... Well then you must be trying to be her friend or something. I swear to the heavens above: Women are the most devious and deadly creatures on this planet. Especially when they're pmsing!

Like Tsunade. However… I don't know why she still is… With how old she is she shouldn't be having that 'time of month' anymore! Hey… I know science… I just choose to not pay attention. God that woman acts like she still gets those. I even have my calendar marked for when she would act like that! Every twenty-eight days there's a little writing in the boxes that says _'Tsunade Week'_. My skin always crawls when it's that week, because I don't know if she'll barge in my room, chew and spit me out the window! I don't even know if Jiraiya's head will be popping up in my bathroom while I'm bathing… Which is very irritating because then he forgets all matters at hand and asks me the most _annoying_ questions.

Like why am I so skinny, and why do I look so girly. Ok… I know I look like the spitting image of my dad but come on now! No need to insult me. And in a sort of indirect way you're insulting my dad, one of your most prized students.

But enough of that! Back to me…. So yeah, wanna know how I got this god-awful gunk once called milk in my hair? Let's just say like a love-struck idiot, I fell into a trap. I have never seen, or even heard of the girls at my school being so creative. I mean really… I hated my life right then and there. Thank god no one really saw it.

And stop poking your nose around! There's no way I'm telling you… Lemme also tell you that these aren't my clothes. This red t-shirt with 'billabong' splashed over the front in silver and black, and the light khaki Capri's with dangling ties, yeah they're Gaara's. He had an extra pair of clothes in his locker.

See how they kind of hang on me? Hmm… Maybe Jiraiya was right…Because on the outside, Gaara and I look pretty much the same size. I however… don't have a lean body like him. Which, by the way, royally sucks ass.

I grimaced while looking at my book bag. Flies were already gathering and mating over my precious bag. God damnit… And that took me and Gaara three weeks to get it like that!! Do you have any idea how rare those patches and buttons are around this area?! I lifted the bag up by its sling and retched heavily. Dear lord…

But it'd really be a waste of good work…

I sigh and dump out the contents of the bag—which were also damp in what ever it is that the girls dumped me in—getting ready to throw it away in the trash bin.

"Naruto… if you really don't want to throw it away then wash it."

I smiled and shook my head lightly. No… Even though a lot of these patches and buttons were given to me by Gaara, I feel it'd be better to let them die with honor: In that trash bin.

This bag was our first artwork together for our art class. I stitched it up out of scraps of old pieces of clothes I found in Gaara's room as Gaara did with his from my clothes. Every time we bought a patch, the owner of the clothes had the job of sewing onto the bag. Gaara and I went all out crazy with it, getting the most retarded and hilarious patches and buttons to add to the creative piece of work that got us both a month worth of A's. And I swear my fingers had never been through so much pain before… I almost cried for them. Almost…

I looked at Gaara's book bag and smiled slightly at the one black diamond shaped patch that read '_It's my first time'_ in bright green. Gaara was constantly picked at for that patch. You have no idea how many people came up, read his bag and said "It's your first time in what?"

HAHA! Oh man… good times. That made Gaara hit me with the bag with every chance he got.

I guess you can kinda say that our bags are our hilarious version of a charm bracelet. I looked at the patch I bought three days ago and snickered. Out of both our bags, Gaara's had the most hilarious but embarrassing patches. Not that he ever complained. If anything, it just made him smile even more.

…

That is… if you wanna call a raised brow and itching fingers a smile. While laughing my ass off, I sewed on "I may be a flirt but your boyfriend absolutely _loves_ it." Neji just clicked his tongue at me and asked why we even bothered with our bags. It's been well over 6 months since the completion of our project, and it was really getting childish. That's what he said.

Gaara glared, and I just pouted. "But Neji!" I whined, in the most horrible nails scratching on a chalkboard whine I could muster—which by the way were also killing _my_ ears. "It's a sign of our friendship! The more patches the more I show I love him!"

That of course earned me a slap in the face with a brown slipper. What?! Can you blame me for acting like that? Neji just shook his head and sat at the kitchen table sipping on his coffee.

I knew Gaara ventured out to get me a patch not long after it. He felt like he was being challenged by me giving him a patch more hilarious than his. Man I really want to cuss out Sakura for planning such a diabolical thing.

I should probably be mean to her too and find a way to pull her hair right off her scalp… or even take the scalp with the pink dyed hair…

I shivered.

Man… Gaara watches the freakiest movies EVER! He made me watch Saw 4 last night… I couldn't sleep right after the first three… Why the hell would he make me watch the forth one?! Especially since I know Gaara thinks very much like the main villain in them… I avoided my panda until morning.

"Gaara… it's too ruined…" I really wanted to cry. Out of all the things that I treasured from Gaara this bag knocked everything else down.

"No it's not… all we have to do is give it to the cleaners or something…"

I laughed. "Oh right, like the cleaners would actually clean that thing. They'd think we're just some kids pulling their leg!"

Gaara stared at me, then glanced at the bag. He grunted and snatched the bag from my hand. Turning on the faucet, he placed the bag under it, his own nose wrinkling.

"Gaara…" I started.

"Get your stuff… Whatever's good, keep them. Whatever's bad, throw them away. Or vice versa. I personally would do the latter." Wha?? Oh! He's talking about homework. Gaara hates homework haha.

The red head scrubbed the biggest chunks of rotten food off my bag and looked at me through the corner of his eye, slowly edging away from me.

And I could understand why… I have the most grateful puppy dog face. And that look had a tendency to scare him to the point where he would take every stuffed animal I gave him and give it to me, telling me to keep them for a week.

"GAARA!! Man!! You are seriously the best!" I leaped and hugged the teen, our heads bumping against each other.

"Hn…. Naruto… Get off…"

"Oh man! If I could kiss you I would!"

"Do that and you might not have lips anymore."

"Dude… you're seriously ruining the moment… You're sucking the love out of the room"

"Good."

We stood there in silence, staring out our reflection. Gaara looked bored as fuck. I just looked like I got fucked and it was the best time of my life.

"Naruto…"

"Yes?"

"Go to class before I kill you."

I stuck my tongue out which, accidentally by the way, connected with Gaara's cheek. That made my red haired panda kick me out the boy restroom. And I literally mean kicked.

"OW! God damnit… There should be a law that says you can get sent to jail for hurting a disabled person." I rubbed my golden locks with my hand that was in a heavily decorated cast signed by every guy who hated Uchiha almost as much as I did.

Notice how I said _almost_.

Remember how I used to wish he would burn in hell?

Yeah I still wish for that… But first, I'd rather he go through pure torture then given the relief to be killed, but sadly brought back to life just through go through the process again, this time without killing him.

There was something Kakashi once told me… Something about holding a plate of the most favorite foods of a fat man—who has been deprived of it for so long—in their face only to say "Oops, sorry, wrong plate" and place a plate of what he hated the most on his belly. Or something like that… I wasn't really paying attention. I just know that it's the best way to torture someone.

Everyday I have detention. Everyday I get yelled at. Everyday I miss a plan with my friends. Everyday I end up getting in a fist fight with the sub. Everyday I'm this close to pulling out my hair! And you guys should know I would never, in a million years, would even think about that! Do you know how long it took me to get my hair to look this sexy?!... Ok yeah it's been like this since birth but hey… I don't know another person whose hair is like mine.

I stood in front of Geometry B. Shit… I forgot I had fifth period. I stared down at my feet and kicked the ground gently. Really… Must I be tortured today? Why God?!

I lifted a hand to grab the knob only to sink lower in my growing depression. Dainty fingers grazed the cold metal that would once again lead me to detention… Ok scratch the whole dainty shit, but I'm not exaggerating where this door will lead me to. I don't know what it is, but something about me really annoys the fuck out of Uchiha. And normally, I'd figure it out, just to piss him off more. However…

My eyes shifted to my left, then my right. No one… I threw my fists in the air and pretended to stomp on Sasuke's head with my stomping foot having no contact with the floor. YES! I'll admit! I'm being childish and idiotic! I can't help it!

Considering the situation, and the fact that Sasuke has more authority than me, I can't piss him off anymore if I want my permanent record to be free of suspension and expulsion.

Placing my foot on the ground very lightly I took a deep breath and started counting to ten.

…Ehh… Better make that 20.

I gripped the handle and twisted it with a wince and entered, waiting for the cold, but irritatingly sexy voice to insult me.

"Naruto? Why are you so late?"

I blinked and stared hard at the voice I could never ever forget, granted it was a little bit scratchy but still. I knew it anywhere. There stood my teacher Iruka, staring at me with a raised brow, questioning a lot of things about me. He asked me a few questions that I couldn't answer at the moment.

He stood then in casual clothes but had a forest green scarf wrapped snuggly around his neck. His cheeks were a little red but still, they held a healthy glow around them. In his hand were the test papers that we all failed miserably three days ago. He was writing a few problems on the whiteboard, getting ready to explain the functions and a simpler way of remembering how to solve it.

I couldn't fathom at the scene before me. I seriously wanted to cry. Fuck what I said about how real men don't cry! I walked to Iruka with long and quick strides. I gripped his ponytail, gave it a yank then started messing with his cheeks.

"Gah! Naru-"

"THERE IS A GOD!!" I hollered, getting down on my knees and hugging Iruka as if my life depended on it. And why shouldn't I?! That bastard is gone! "THANK YOU GOD!!"

"Amen!" a couple of guys hollered as the girls huffed and looked away.

"N-Naruto… Please, find your seat. I really need to go over these problems. Oh… but…" Iruka started shuffling through the papers. I mean seriously? Why bother? That horrible grade isn't going to ruin my happiness. Do you have any idea how much torture I've been put through Iruka?! "Sasuke wanted me to give this to you. He said that he doesn't believe his eyes, but after checking it five times he has come to the conclusion that when you're threatened you work twice as hard. He suggested that I do so as well but I doubt I could ever be like him." Iruka gave me a smile and handed me the packet that was double sided. The answers were scratched out several times with my pen.

"Oh please… Please don't. Iruka you have no idea what I've been through!" I would've told him what Sakura and Ino did too, had I not felt their heated glares on my backside.

"Naruto… please… look at your grade." Iruka had a bright smile on his face and tried prying me off his leg.

"Why bother!? We all already know no one passed this test!"

Iruka chuckled.

"Everyone… except you."

Dead eerie silence. I was completely frozen. I have a what?! Wait wait… Are you sure this is me you're talking about? I spent all the time that Sasuke was here, glaring my eyes into the back of his head, completely ignoring what he was teaching and I have a grade better than anyone else?!

Gulping I looked down at the paper. My hands trembling. My eyes could only widen at the impossibility.

-040-

"You got a what?!" I rubbed my ears and wincing. Both my ex and my best friend's jaws fell to the floor.

"Is there an echo in here? Must be 'cause I keep repeating myself…" I happily showed them my test and grinning like a fool who just won a lottery and some hot babes. And trust me, I know what that grin looks like. It's the same look Jiraiya got when he told some women at the springs that he was an author and made thousands each week.

"I got a ninety-four percent! And Iruka told me Sasuke had to look at it five times before he left today! Even Iruka double checked it!" I exclaimed, obviously proud of myself.

Although… it's kinda feels like my heart has been stabbed to know that Iruka himself was skeptical of my work. Well too bad! My scratch work is all over the paper! Hell Sasuke even had to circle a couple of numbers to ask me questions about. Thankfully, Iruka was the one to hold me back and ask them.

"But… wait… wasn't Sasuke here this morning?" Neji asked, flipping through the test, his keys to his new car dangling in his mouth.

Yeah see you remember that whole car chase thing? Yeah I kinda made Neji wear out the break peddles and lo and behold, we crashed about three days later. Fortunate for us we had bags of pillows that some Hyuuga family member wanted specifically, custom made too. So we came out ok. Now Neji has a new custom made Ferrari 'cause his relative thought it was his fault. And I'm very jealous about that…

"Yeah he was, but something came up in his company and Iruka came by to check on us. So Iruka told Sasuke to go and Iruka just took his class back." I explained, lacing my hands behind my head.

We started walking out the building with high heads. Well at least mine was high. Gaara and Neji were still trying to get over the fact of the newly acquired intelligence I have. They were hunched over my paper going over every detail on each page together.

And in all honesty, it was seriously ticking me off…

"Why did he circle a couple of numbers in a different color?" Gaara asked.

"I dunno. Ran outta ink? Lost the red pen?" I hissed through my teeth that were trying to hold my grin. "Seriously, guys you're ruining my moment."

Yeah, I noticed too that Sasuke used a green pen on the last page, the page that had the most work and numbers on it. But really what's so suspicious about it? Gaara and Neji held it in their hands as if it was a puzzle and detective work.

"And he just circled numbers…"

I pouted. "Nuh-uh, he circled a few equations!" I snatched my paper and looked through it. Oh shit… they really were just numbers circled in green. The equations and question marks were in red. I flipped through the other pages and noticed the green markings again. Only numbers… how odd…

"But all in all…" two rough hands clamped down on my shoulders and I looked at both of them. Neji had a small smile and Gaara just looked at me, his face utterly indifferent. "We are very proud of you."

Next thing I knew… well… It hit me on both my cheeks. A shiver crawled so hard up my spine that I had to stand on my toes to get rid of it. What the—? Did they BOTH just kiss me?!

My hands flew to my cheeks and I suddenly felt dizzy. Not only did Neji kiss me but Gaara! Gaara did too! Granted, Gaara had a look on his face that said 'I can't believe I just did that' and roughly placed a somewhat soggy bag in my hand. My smile grew ten fold. And I believe, if this were a movie, then you would need a welding mask because that's how bright my smile would've been dramatized.

"Gaara! You cleaned it!"

"Hn… It didn't really take long… I just called Kankuro and asked him to get some cleaning stuff from knitting class." He stared at Neji's new silver Ferrari and frowned.

"K-knitting class?" I snickered. "Since when does Kankuro knit?"

"He doesn't…" Gaara answered. "He's the T.A. And he wanted a way out of that class so I offered him one."

"Gaara… how long were you in that bathroom?" my ex asked, his pale lavender eyes laughing.

My panda grumble something and yanked the Ferrari door open.

"What was that?" I said in a sing song voice. It was maybe the best way to get Gaara repeat what he said without getting your head smashed by his fist.

"… Till school ended."

"I LOVE YOU MAN!"

"Touch my cheek with your tongue again and I swear to God: You. Will. Die." I laughed sheepishly but gave his hand a firm squeeze.

"Naruto… Back."

And then my frown was wiped completely from my face. "What? Why?!"

Neji gave me a droll stare. "Because… Sasuke might still be around. And I don't want a repeat of what happened to my last car."

Gaara smirked at me and forced me down in the back where I sat pouting, but still blushing from my little experience back there. Now why couldn't they do that more often?

"Naru… we only give you kisses if you do great in something." Gaara said. Oops, there I go again.

"Especially if you got the best score in something you're very horribly at," Neji added, pulling out of the parking lot.

With my left eye twitching I kicked both the back of their seats and watched them jerk forward. "God damnit Naruto! Stop being so childish!" Neji hissed, as he was forced to skid to a halt in front of the stoplight.

"You're insulting my intelligence…"

The teen on my right snorted. "You have intelligence?"

Ohh… If only I could bite you right now…

-040-

While somberly cleaning the mess I made in the kitchen, Gaara and Neji were still puzzling over the green marks on my test. I strained my ears. I was really dying to know right now too… Shh!! They might hear us…

"It just doesn't make any sense… Obvious, he had both a green and a red pen." Neji.

"Could it really mean something? Plus, only numbers are circled." Gaara.

"Yes, yes I know but…Gaara look, these numbers have to be significant but I can't find out how… especially since the numbers that are circled are of the equations that Naruto knew were wrong and crossed them out."

"Maybe it's a code…"

"…A code for what?" Thank you Neji, for voicing out my thoughts.

"I don't know… but adding up the green marks, you get ten numbers. What usually needs ten?"

There was slight shuffling and it made my skin itch. Has that every happened to you before? It's like you stand there in silence eavesdropping and suddenly you start to hear movement and your skin itches? It's a really weird sensation. Makes no sense at all.

"Anything that has to do with a password…Well computer-wise mostly. Not many security passwords have ten digits to satisfy themselves."

I growled. I wanna see! I poked out my head and watched them as they were hunched over my paper with pencils in their hands and loose paper scattered on the desk. I snorted. First I'm told to clean up, and then they make a mess? Oh no, that won't do. Do you hear me you two?!

Gaara growled too and shoved himself away from the paper, leaning against my couch with a distorted look on his face. And normal, Gaara's face doesn't scrunch up like that. Hell I don't even think it scrunches up at all! I mean it wrinkles but I think that's it…

"What does he want from Naru…?"

"Other than his body and virginity? I don't know…"

Oh crud…. Am I blushing? 'Cause I mean my face is really, _really_ hot right now. Gaara just stared at Neji. And then his shoulders started to shake.

"You-You didn't take it? Why?"

There was a slight pink tinge to Neji's face even though he was dead set on solving the puzzle—if you wanna call it a puzzle, this isn't National Treasure.

"I can't take it Gaara. That would be insensitive of me."

"Of all the… Do you know how he talks about you in homeroom after he spends the night at your house? He's ecstatic and all giddy and shit. Which is really irritating by the way. He even _liked_ coming to school so damn early in the morning after being at your place. He liked bragging."

I started to sink in the shadows, a light chuckle in my throat that just wouldn't come out. And I really think it's trying to choke me…

"You're sure being talkative today," Neji glared at Gaara.

He shrugged. "I've had something to talk about. Very rare if you ask me. Naruto's usually the one that's doing all the talking…"

Neji laughed. "No, I think when we both go into shock after something Naruto has done you do nothing but ask questions and let out your thoughts about him."

"Perhaps. But I'm starting to think that it really is nothing… Leave it Neji. What harm can Sasuke do to Naruto now that he's gone?"

"Gaara…" Neji started. "Sasuke… He wants Naruto… For more reason's that I listed. And when Sasuke wants something, he gets it, even if he has to kill."

I gulped and stood plain in view, my broom clutched tight in my hands. Kill? There will be no killing anywhere! God… what the hell is up with the psycho? Is he like those guys in those horror movies? I mean damn… he looks and sounds like he is one. You have no idea how close those movies are to real life.

"Well… too bad for him, killing us will result in Naruto going berserk and killing him. Right Naru?" Gaara didn't even bother opening his eyes and only tilt his head back. "Our deaths better not go in vain…"

I flushed in anger and embarrassment. I shuffled towards Gaara and stared down at him. He stares up lazily with one eye. You stupid panda. And you're my best friend? Of course your deaths won't be in vain! I mean I'll be all emo and shit but never! If anyone kills you I'll make sure to butcher them and send their body pieces to twenty different places on this Earth.

But for right now…

_WHACK!_

….

"Naruto… you are so dead…"

"But won't that make your death be in vain?" I quirked.

"Sasuke won't want you if you're dead."

And so began the long awaited wrestling! Unfortunately… I lost… and right now, after 15 minutes of grappling, I'm laying on my stomach with my face in the carpet with Gaara perched on my back as if he's a sultan or something. Which he could pass for you know. It's just the skin color that would throw off his image. DAMNIT GAARA!! GET OFF!

Unfortunately…

"Hm? What was that you said Naruto?"

All he can hear is my voice scratching against the carpet. I swear I thought I had the upper hand! I mean well… I'm still somewhat disabled. But nooooo, Gaara has to play dirty and care less about what happens to my arm. I pulled my face from the carpet and took a large gulp of fresh air. Whoo that carpet smelled.

"I said get off!!"

"Hn… No… I'm rather comfortable right here."

I bucked my hips to try and throw him off but… No avail…Oh my god I hate Gaara.

"Neji!"

"I gotta go; I'm supposed to pick Hinata up from training. I'll talk to you later guys."

Wait, what the fuck? NEJI!

"Naruto, behave. And try not to get cocky because of that test." Neji gave me a small smile and walked out with his jacket in tow.

"Gaaraaaa!"

"Stop whining."

"Then get off me!"

"No."

"…I hate you."

"Ok."

Do you not see this? Is this how best friends are supposed to act? No! They're supposed to say I love you too!

I grunted and pulled my hand free from underneath my stomach. Reaching for the closest thing I could grab, I slammed it into Gaara's side, knocking him off balance. Lucky him it's a pillow. Scrambling to my feet I watched as he just shrugged, grabbed the remote and switched on the TV. Ohhh I hate him right now…

"I'm staying."

I said nothing. Wanna know why? Because Gaara doesn't listen to me. So even if I said no, he'd still be staying. But hey, nice, free, healthy, and delicious food for me!

I grabbed my test and shuffled back to the kitchen. My face was burning from being rubbed into the carpet that was supposed to warm up my feet and make my floor look nice.

With a quick glance, I tossed the paper on the counter and opened the fridge for something to drink. All that grappling really took its toll on me. Especially since I haven't been getting my daily exercise and my body is starting to slow down. And it took me _forever_ to get in that routine… If it wasn't for Kakashi and Neji I'd probably be the laziest person in the world. And that's saying something since as of right now, Shikamaru takes throne.

I yelped a bit as my phone vibrated hard in my pants. Note to self: Never put your phone in your front pocket if it's on vibrate. It's highly uncomfortable in details I won't tell you about unless you do the same as me.

I pulled out my phone and checked for the caller ID. I smiled and flipped the phone open. "Hey Haku! How've you been?"

There was that girlish giggle. "I've been fine. It's nice to hear you again Naruto. You've been really busy lately, ne?"

I closed the fridge with a slight kick and brought some orange juice to a clean glass. "You try dealing with a sub who makes you stay behind to study and torture you."

Haku laughed. "Is he still there?"

"Hopefully not, he left when lunch was over. Please don't jinx me." I prayed and took a sip of my juice.

"I won't! I promise. Besides, I miss talking to you."

"Good. Cause if you did jinx me then I probably would be unable to talk to you. Well… if you could… it might be in Juvenile Hall or something…" I stare idly at the last page of my test paper with green markings on it.

Really… There was nothing to solve! I mean really he could've just used a different pen. Maybe he just forgot it in shock and picked up the next correcting pen next to him.

Oh yeah! Accept the fact that Naruto Uzumaki is smart, bitch!

"Juvenile Hall? Why?" Haku asked, you could hear the television in the background, and I won't even tell you what it sounds like.

"Because I'd kick his ass. I'd probably kill him too. Do you know how hard it was for me to try and do nothing wrong? And I still got in trouble? I am not letting this guy be the death of me!"

"Strong words Naruto."

"Thank you. Hey what are you doing this Saturday?" With the ballpoint of my tip-chewed pen I placed the numbers side-by-side on the page. All in order of how they are seen. Let's see what we have shall we:

We have a 9, 5, 4, 5, 5, 5, 7, 8, 3, 2…

…What the fuck?

"Well… I have to work for the first few hours of the day. My landlord felt like rising up the stakes on our rent. It really pissed off Zabuza." There was a loud clatter in the back ground and strings of curses that sounded very much like:

"_That old man is going to pay! No one can get that kind of money in a week!!_"

"Hehe, sucks for you guys. Hey Haku… how many numbers are there in a phone number?"

"You honestly don't know?" When I didn't respond and chuckled sheepishly, I heard him giggle. "What will you do without me? There's seven. Ten if you include the area code."

And I repeat: What the fuck?

Staring hard at the letters as if they would shift into snakes and slither along the page, my jaw mechanically opens bit by bit. No way in hell. Today must _really_ be my day. I aced a test that no one else did _and_ solved a puzzle that Neji and Gaara could not! I mean really it was so obvious!

Ok not obvious, obvious but still! You'd think that two smart guys like them would figure it out in a heart beat! And I know that I said it wasn't but hey… you never know until you try right?

"Damn… Thanks Haku." I beamed. "If I could kiss you I would."

"You do that," a deep guttural voice growled. "And you may never see or feel those lips again."

…Keeping my lips to myself sir. And I said that too. Haku found it very funny and laughing in my ear. Oh thank god his voice laughing voice is NOTHING like Sakura's.

"Sorry about that, Zabuza is really protective. But hey I gotta go right now, my meal break is almost over. I'll call you later on tonight ok?"

"Naw its cool, call me tomorrow. I think I'm go to bed early tonight."

We exchanged good-byes and I pressed 'end'. Who's number is this? My whole body was screaming "Sasuke's!" but like an idiot I started dialing anyway. I licked my lips and pressed "phone".

I mean really. Is there such a big chance that it's Sasuke? And even if it is, well then I'll just hang up. For all I know a girl could've sent me this!

_But what if it is him?_

I don't know… And the chances of him doing this and slim to nothing. Hell he made it loud and CLEAR that he hates me. And besides, he left anyway! There's nothing he could do to me.

_Are you sure?_

Why in the world am I arguing with my rational conscience? Everyone knows that rational consciences cause nothing but consequences. That's why I suggest you go on a plane, open the window and throw it out to the sea. Chances are, it won't find you for another 5 years.

The phone rang for twice. The third time I rolled my eyes. It probably wasn't even a phone number. Maybe it's just a combination like Gaara said. You can't honestly expect me to solve something that simple right?

"Hello?"

I froze.

Damnit.

"Hello?" the voice was getting irritated, and it sounded strangely like Sasuke's.

"Hi," I said with a waver in my voice. "Ummm someone called me on this number… and I was wondering um… Who is this?"

SLICK MOVE!! Here's another lesson for ya: When you're randomly calling someone just say what I said. Works every time.

"Well it wasn't me. Hold please." I murmured a reply and heard the faint noise of the person calling someone.

"Suigetsu… did you call somebody?... Well I didn't… Didn't I tell you to stop wasting my minutes?... Just because you live here does not mean you can just call whoever you want and lie about it… I don't care! You live here but you don't pay for a damn thing… Shut up. Just shut up…. Didn't I just tell you to shut up?"

I snickered slightly. Wow. That was entertaining. "I'm really sorry I-"

"Who is this?" they snapped. I gulped.

"No one important, sorry I called."

"Wait, wait. You sound familiar…"

"Heh, I sound familiar to a lot of people so don't worry about it." I laughed nervously. Ok hand, time to hang up the phone now.

"No… you're voice is very distinctive… God I know your voice."

Now why does Sasuke sound like some docile person on the phone? It's not right I tell you! "Well sir," I coughed, "I must be going now."

"Wai-"

_Clack_.

You are so funny think I would wait for you.

I rest my head on the counter and laughed bitterly after dropping my phone. Oh the joy of this… Stupid move right there. The one time I don't listen to my body it's right. What the hell…

_Bzzzt. Bzzzt. Bzzzt._

Oh my phone… Who is that?

_954-555-7832._

Fuck. What should I do?! I could answer and play fake again or I could just ignore the call. But that would be rude of me… UGH! Since when did I care?! And this is Sasuke we're talking about! I shouldn't care! My hand picked up the phone and I stared at the screen that had a smiley face winking as the phone vibrated in my hand. Ok, answer and play the say dumb thing right? It shouldn't matter. It shouldn't do anything bad right? Right! Good plan.

_1 missed call._

….Double fuck….

Oh this is not good.

And 30 seconds later, I got a voicemail.

Dad... I know you're in heaven and you can't do jack shit to save my life right now, but please tell me that you did something about this. Like my voicemail cracked on my name when I said it.

I flipped open my phone and read the screen with unease hands. _1 missed call. 1 new voicemail. Call voicemail?_

I almost called for Gaara to help calm down my nerves, but you know something? I'm a big boy. I can take this…

I pressed call and dialed my code. Gaara….

"_You have one new voice mail,_" the mechanical voice replied, "_from phone number 954-555-7832._" I held my breath. GAARA!!

"Hello, Naruto. How nice of you to call me."

I think I just died. Thanks a lot Dad.

* * *

R&R please!


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